The Tragic Hero

A tragic character is one who typically has a personal flaw that leads them to an unhappy end such as death, madness, failure, or disgrace. A tragic hero, likewise, is a heroic figure whose personal flaw or flaws prohibit them from sharing in the better world their actions seek to create.

The American Western Hero follows in this tradition. Though this figure takes many forms: the lawman, the cowboy, the gunslinger, the soldier, their story often plays out much the same way.

               >Traits: Isolation, Personal Sacrifice, Protector

The Western Hero is isolated from society. Like Tom Doniphan in The Man who Shot Liberty Valance, or Ethan Edward in The Searchers. They interact with civilization through family or commerce but are set apart and not able to join civilization itself.

Civilization is often pictured in the role of the feminine. The women of the frontier west brought home, stability, and peace. For Eathan Edwards, framed by the door staring out at the vast wilderness outside his brother’s cabin, is there visiting his brother and brother’s family, and despite secretly desiring his brother’s wife, Ethan has chosen not to settle down, build a home, or start a family. After the War Between the States, it’s hinted at that, instead of returning to his family or starting one of his own, he sought our more war as a mercenary fighting down in Mexico. [After the American Civil War ended, Mexico found itself fending off a second invasion by the French, and many young Americans went south to continue their fight].

John Ford intentionally frames Ethan Edwards in the doorway with the wilderness beyond to symbolize the freedom from the constraints of civilization. Ethan’s brother, by contrast, has a home, a family, and also a position as a Texas Ranger. These are things Ethan craves, yet will never have. The western hero rides alone.

Edwards sacrifices the next five years to track down his niece and avenge the murder of his family. He endures cold, discouragement, and contention within his own search party, he perseveres. Later in the film he sacrifices his own desire for vengeance and his pride when he chooses to restore Debby, his niece, to his family even after she integrated into the tribe of Natives who slaughtered their family.

The Western Hero is also the one who saves the day. Ethan Edwards rescues his niece who was kidnapped and held captive for years by local natives. On the other hand, Tom Doniphan brings an end to the lawless marauding’s of the outlaw gang that terrorized the town of Shinbone that had once kept it in a state of suspended progress.

In The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, Tom Doniphan, unlike Ethan, has made an effort to give up his lonely path and gunslinger ways to join civilization. He built a home just outside of town and is well known and respected by the people of Shinbone. Before Ransom Stoddard came to town, he was story’s symbol of justice, Tom made inroads to achieving his goal toward integration. This all falls apart when he, from the shadows—very unlike the typical western hero verses villain shoot out at high noon—fires the shot that kills Liberty Valance (the town’s outlaw menace). He sacrifices the glory of victory to ensure true justice and progress can thrive. The papers print the legend of Ransom instead as the man who shot Valance and brought peace and modernity to the frontier town. For the people there who believe in progress, a printing press, education, law and order, and even Statehood, this is the greatest victory for Civilization against the barbarism of the lawless West.

But this also, signals the end for Tom Doniphan, who never fully integrated into civilization. The woman he loved choses the lawyer, Ransom Stoddard, and no one would ever know what he had done to save the town. They would never understand that in letting Stoddard take the credit, Tom was condemned to remain alone and outcast, never fully a part of society, and never the hero of the story. If he had been, the town could never have move beyond its lawless past toward a brighter future (or so they believed. But you’ll have to watch the film to see what I mean).