Andrew Goodman: The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance

The 1962 Western film titled The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance contains two alpha male cowboys in the form of Tom Doniphon (John Wayne) and Liberty Valance (Lee Marvin). Ransom “Rance” Stoddard is a newcomer to the West and is certainly not an alpha male cowboy. Sue Matheson, the author of “The West-Hardboiled: Adaptations of Film Noir Elements, Existentialism, and Ethics in John Wayne’s Westerns” would assess each of these men differently: Tom Doniphon is the “hardboiled…callous, remorseless, and manipulative…film noir antihero…caught in an existential double bind (Matheson 891, 896-897); Liberty Valance is the “severely disabled psychopath…[who is a] manipulative, callous, remorseless, parasitic, pathological liar…with poor behavioral controls” (892); and Rance Stoddard is a “rather naïve and gullible idealist, what Westerners would term a greenhorn” (896).
Tom Doniphon first appears in the film when he brings a badly beaten Rance Stoddard into Shinbone so as to allow Hallie, the woman he intends to marry, and her parents to care for Stoddard. Doniphon is the only man in the film tough enough to intimidate Liberty Valance and his gang. Thus, he “can be counted on to act in good faith, however grudgingly” (Matheson 899). Doniphon is an alpha male cowboy “living what may be considered a hardboiled, existential version of the good life, a life that in its completeness is both admirable and desirable to others” (Matheson 900). Matheson would make this assessment of Tom Doniphon as although he lives alone and mentions that he traveled alone for three weeks in order to complete a sale, he protects Rance Stoddard on multiple occasions, even allowing all to believe that Rance killed Liberty Valance so as to ultimately send him to Washington D.C. to represent the territory. He also sacrifices his plan of marrying Hallie so as to allow her to marry Rance. Essentially, Matheson would assess Doniphon as a man who “is unquestionably his own moral center because he can…live with the fact that he cold-bloodedly murdered another human being” (896). Thus, the alienated Doniphon sacrifices is own potential happiness so as to ensure that Shinbone experiences a safer and more prosperous future.
Liberty Valance is the leader of a gang of outlaws who rob and kill at will. Matheson would say that “Valance’s behavior is beastly” (895). Additionally, his “actions violate one of the most fundamental value concepts of virtue ethics: ‘the highest good’” (Matheson 899). His power is derived from the fact that until Rance Stoddard arrives in Shinbone, no one, especially not the bumbling marshal, prevents him from robbing and murdering. As the individual is the law in the West, Liberty Valance is so bold as to nominate himself to be a delegate to represent Shinbone in the territory’s capital city. Clearly, Matheson would assess Liberty Valance as a deeply disturbed and savage individual with no regard for human life.
Rance Stoddard follows the advice of Horace Greeley and ventures to the West. After Liberty Valance savagely beats Rance after he attempts to interfere in a robbery, Rance, an attorney, becomes obsessed with seeing Valance imprisoned. He despises the lawlessness of Shinbone and initially refuses to carry a gun. However, he soon begins to carry a gun and is led to believe that he killed Valance. Matheson would assess Stoddard as “an ineffectual, almost comical figure” (904). This is so as despite the fact that Rance eventually becomes governor, senator, and a potential vice president, he simply does not mesh with the values of the West. According to Matheson, “his gender identity becomes increasingly problematic. A dandy in his suit, Stoddard…spends a good deal of his time in Shinbone washing dishes….Alone in his apron on the boardwalk, Stoddard, appear[s]…to wear a skirt over his trousers in his shootout with Valance” (903-904).
Matheson’s assessment of both Tom Doniphon and Liberty Valance seems just, however, her assessment of Rance Stoddard is simply too shallow. Tom Doniphon is certainly the alienated antihero of the West as he lives alone, is willing to take the law into his own hands, and despite his antisocial personality, he acts in a “fundamentally ethical” (Matheson 899) manner. Liberty Valance embodies the Western outlaw as he a true savage. He beats Rance Stoddard in order to, as he puts it “teach you [Rance] law—Western law” (895). In order for the people of Shinbone to thrive, Liberty Valance must be killed; and so he is. Ransom “Rance” Stoddard is certainly not a masculine man when his toughness is compared with that of Doniphon or Valance, however, Rance is neither ineffectual, nor comical. He is a man of principle as he believes that the law of the gun is simply wrong. As governor and as senator, Rance becomes incredibly popular as he allows Shinbone (and the entire territory/state for that matter) to experience prosperity. Yes, he would have been killed were it not for Tom Doniphon’s actions. However, that does not erase the good that he does for the people of the West. Matheson should reassess Rance Stoddard’s character with this in mind. He is a truly strong character.