In The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, Tom Doniphon and Liberty Valance are the two alpha male characters. A third male lead, Ransom Stoddard, does not fit this role. Instead, Stoddard represents eastern thought and the law of the land, which has no place in the West – “I know those books mean a lot to you but not out here. Out here a man settles his own problems” (film)(896). Matheson would assess him as an almost feminine character – especially in comparison to the hardened cowboys. He sports an inappropriate, nonfunctional wardrobe in the beginning – and later replaces it with an apron, implying he does not belong in that environment, and he is not on the same level as the alphas. He is addressed by the alphas as “tenderfoot” and the “new waitress”, securing his less than man status. I would agree with Matheson’s possible assessment of this character – he is certainly inferior by the standards of the West at that time.
The alpha male characters would be catororized as so by Matheson due to their moral systems and the way they function in their society. “Only the fittest, the strongest, and the most ruthless survive…. Those who …draw the gun faster than anyone else” (891). This defines the setting of the film, and the views of the inhabitents of Shinbone, who simply laugh when Stoddard suggests the prospect of jail for Liberty Valance. The world only has the meaning that one man creates for himself, his own moral center – both Valance and Doniphon hold this to be true, though the two alphas have some crucial differences. I believe Matheson would asses Liberty Valance as a sociopath, due to his completely manipulative remorseless behavior and outright cruelty to anyone other than himself and his own self interests. He has no issue with robbery, murder, or stealing. He is isolated and deranged.
Doniphon on the other hand, holds these characteristics as well. Though he may seem to be the hero in this film, I believe Matheson would asses him a bit differently. He also is deranged and isolated from society. He too can live with cold-blooded murder. However, he is different from Valance in that his behavior is fundamentally ethical. Matheson could not classify him as the hero throughout the entire film however, because in her words, “Heroes may be dusty but not dirty….Above all, they have always just shaved” (892). This can be said of Doniphon in most of the movie, but after the shoot out and loosing his girl to Ransom, he no longer fits the description. His clothes are ragged in the final seens, covered in dirt, and a distinct line of stubble shadows his jaw. He can no longer be the hero of the story by Matheson’s assessment, and I agree. Matheson’s analysis of the charcters seems to apply completely to this film, and I concur with the points she would most likely make when assessing the lead male characters.
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ReplyDeleteIn The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, Tom Doniphon and Liberty Valance are the two characters who have the potential to be alpha males. A third male lead, Ransom Stoddard, does not fit the description of an alpha. Instead, Stoddard represents eastern thought and the law of the land, which has no place in the West. “I know those books mean a lot to you but not out here. Out here a man settles his own problems” (film)(896). Matheson would assess him as an almost feminine character – especially in comparison to the hardened cowboys. He sports an inappropriate, nonfunctional wardrobe in the beginning – and later replaces it with an apron, implying he does not belong in that environment. He is addressed by the alphas as “tenderfoot” and the “new waitress”, securing his less than manly status. Also, he follows the written law, while the cowboys follow the law of the gun. I would agree with Matheson’s possible assessment of this character – he is certainly inferior by the standards of the West at that time.
ReplyDeleteThe potential alpha male characters would be categorized as so by Matheson due to their moral systems and the way they function in their society. “Only the fittest, the strongest, and the most ruthless survive…. Those who …draw the gun faster than anyone else” (891). This defines the setting of the film, and the views of the inhabitants of Shinbone - who simply laugh when Stoddard suggests the prospect of jail for Liberty Valance. The world only has the meaning that one man creates for himself, his own moral center. Both Valance and Doniphon hold this to be true, though the two cowboys have some crucial differences. I believe Matheson would asses Liberty Valance as a sociopath, due to his completely manipulative remorseless behavior and outright cruelty to anyone other than himself and his own self interests. He has no issue with robbery, brutality, or murder. He is isolated and deranged. His pristine dress could even be considered that of a Dandy, trying too hard to fit into society.
Doniphon on the other hand, is also deranged and isolated from society. He too can live with cold-blooded murder. However, he is different from Valance in that his behavior is fundamentally ethical. Doniphon has reasons for his cruelty, and he is able to recognize what is right and what is wrong. This separates him from the sociopathic Valance, showing his central morality. In this way, Doniphon is the true alpha male. Matheson’s analysis of the characters seems to apply completely to this film, and I concur with the points she would most likely make when assessing the lead male characters.