Watching the beginning of Red River I thought John Wayne’s character, Thomas Dunson, to be the sole alpha male cowboy in the film. Accompanied by his sidekick Groot, Dunson was toughest and most disciplined of all the characters. He portrayed his dominance over the West by branding cattle with his initial, representing Red River D. Similar to most alpha male cowboys, he is forced to choose between a girl and his obligations. He was forced to leave his girlfriend, Fen, behind in order to fulfill his Western responsibilities. When she begs to go with him, Tom explains that the voyage is “too much for a woman.” An alpha male will always choose the Western landscape seeing as how “the single most important relationship he has is to the land” (Tompkins 78).
The film is fast forwarded to 1865; Matthew Garth returns home from the Civil War and is no longer the little boy Dunson had found in the desert fourteen years ago. As a child, Matt was the only one to survive and escape the Indian’s massacre. This sets the tone for his future evolvement into an alpha male cowboy. Until he met Dunson, Matt was surviving on his own. Survival in solitude happens to be one of the cowboy’s most prominent traits.
Under Dunson’s tutelage, equality among the two alpha males develops. When starting out on the Chisholm Trail, Dunson gives Matt a nod of approval and tells him to lead the herd to Missouri. As Matt further develops into an alpha male cowboy, Dunson becomes more and more tyrannical. The followers turn to Matt’s leadership and look to him for answers. Threatening to hang and kill the quitters in the herd, Dunson asks who will stop him from doing so and Matt replies, “I will.” This is the point in the film in which I believe Matt has fully developed into an alpha male cowboy. Matt leaves him behind and takes the followers to finish the task they set out to accomplish. Like Dunson, Matt is forced to leave his love, Tess when he chooses to continue his journey to the West. The cowboy is an alpha male “who settles his own problems” (Matheson 897). In the final scene, Dunson and Matt resolve their conflict with one another through a physical fight, which helps them to reconcile and solve their problems. If these points are not enough to convince the audience that there are two alpha male cowboys in Red River, then Dunson makes it extremely clear by adding an M to the Red River D symbol. This addition of Matt’s initial reveals that Dunson now views his former student as an equal.
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Watching the beginning of Red River I thought John Wayne’s character, Thomas Dunson, to be the sole alpha male cowboy in the film. Accompanied by his sidekick Groot, Dunson was the toughest and most disciplined of all the characters. He portrayed his dominance over the West by branding cattle with his initial, representing Red River D. Like most alpha male cowboys, he is forced to choose between a girl and his obligations. He was compelled to leave his girlfriend Fen behind in order to fulfill his Western responsibilities. When she begs to go with him, Tom explains that the voyage is “too much for a woman.” An alpha male will always choose the Western landscape seeing as how “the single most important relationship he has is to the land” (Tompkins 78).
ReplyDeleteThe film is fast forwarded to 1865; Matthew Garth returns home from the Civil War and is no longer the little boy Dunson had found in the desert fourteen years ago. As a child, Matt was the only one to survive and escape the Indian’s massacre. This sets the tone for his future evolvement into an alpha male cowboy. Until he met Dunson, Matt was living by himself in the wilderness. Survival in solitude happens to be one of the cowboy’s most prominent traits.
Under Dunson’s tutelage, equality among the two alpha males develops. When starting out on the Chisholm Trail, Dunson gives Matt a nod of approval and tells him to lead the herd to Missouri. As Matt further develops into an alpha male cowboy, Dunson becomes more and more tyrannical. The followers turn to Matt’s leadership and look to him for answers. Threatening to hang and kill the quitters in the herd, Dunson asks who will stop him from doing so and Matt replies, “I will.” This is the point in the film in which I believe Matt has fully developed into an alpha male cowboy. Matt leaves him behind and takes the followers to finish the task they set out to accomplish. Like Dunson, Matt is forced to leave his love, Tess when he chooses to continue his journey to the West. The cowboy is an alpha male “who settles his own problems” (Matheson 897). In the final scene, Dunson and Matt resolve their conflict with one another through a physical fight, which helps them to reconcile and solve their problems. If these points are not enough to convince the audience that there are two alpha male cowboys in Red River, then Dunson makes it extremely clear by adding an M to the Red River D symbol. This addition of Matt’s initial reveals that Dunson now views his former apprentice as an equal.