DB - The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance

In the film “The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance”, directed by John Ford and starring John Wayne, is an exploration of the fundamental difference between the law of the book and the law of the gun, and more importantly a study of their coexistence in the west. John Wayne’s character, Tom Doniphon, is undoubtedly an alpha male cowboy. He embodies the western hero; He’s the best shot in the territory, he’s tough, he’s rugged, he does what’s necessary. However, one aspect of this film that sets it apart is that it has two alpha male cowboys, the other being Liberty Valance. Yes, the villain in the movie is also the typical alpha male cowboy, he is intimidating, powerful, but most importantly, like Doniphon, Valance doesn’t follow the law, he takes it into his own hands. They follow western law, as Valance clearly illustrates when he tells Stoddard that he’d teach him “western law”. Doniphon continues to uphold that ideal later, telling Stoddard that in the west men take care of their own problems. However, that isn’t to say that there aren’t very clear, very present distinctions between Tom Doniphon and Liberty Valance.

Unlike Valance, who by all appearance is a sociopath, Doniphon acts based on his own ethical code. He does his duty to the other residents of Shinbone, to his fellow man. For example, Doniphon sacrifices his happiness with Hallie when, instead of letting Valance kill Stoddard, he intervenes, knowing that by sacrificing his own happiness he is making life better for those around him. He is fully conscious of what killing Valance meant for him, as is evidenced by the fact that he burns down the house he had built to live in with Hallie. In the end of the movie, it has become clear that while in many ways the law of the book won out in the form of Stoddard gaining power, one has to remember that without Doniphon’s use of force, without his “illegal” actions, Stoddard would be dead instead of a prominent senator, and Liberty Valance would have continued to torment and abuse the residents of Shinbone and the surrounding territory. Because of his willingness to give up so much for Stoddard’s success, one can’t help but wonder whether, in Doniphon’s heart, he wanted the world to work as Stoddard’s idealized world did, a world where there was law and order, and where might doesn’t necessarily make right.The fundamental difference between the two philosophies doesn’t preclude them from coexistence, rather, it is exemplified in The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance that because of humanity’s darker nature, because of our sociopaths and our other struggles and challenges, the two must work together to achieve a balance.