DS The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance

In the film The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance there are two alpha-male characters: Tom Doniphon (John Wayne) and Liberty Valance (Lee Marvin). The third male lead, Rance Stoddard, should also be taken into consideration, but he is no alpha-male character. Sue Matheson, according to her article "The West Hardboiled," would assess each character differently.

Liberty and Doniphon are different versions of the alpha-male cowboy, despite their inherent similarities. Both characters are masculine, tough and leathery. More importantly, however, the two "settle their own problems" out West, where rule of law is discarded and rule by law has risen as the law of the land. Both Liberty and Doniphon show this ideal to Stoddard: Liberty states "I'll teach you Western law" before he savagely beats Rance, whereas Doniphon merely states to Rance that "You'd better start packing a gun...I know those law books mean a lot to you but not out here. Out here a man settles his own problems." The differences are flushed out in the actions of the characters. Liberty Valance is a clear sociopath, possesses no moral compass and has not shown through his actions to be able to distinguish between right and wrong. Doniphon, on the other hand, knows the difference between right and wrong, but acts according to what he deems is right. Doniphon is "the manly virtuous mean carefully placed between the law and the outlaw." He is the anti-hero, who is counted by on the citizens of Shinbone to "act in good faith, however grudgingly" simply because he is the only one who can.

Rance Stoddard, while a central male role of the film, is not seen as an alpha-male. Stoddard is described by Matheson as a "naive and gullible idealist, what Westerners would term a greenhorn.” He heads out West expecting a civilized frontier, where the rule of law is upheld, but instead encounters the characters of Liberty Valence and Tom Doniphon; two characters seemingly above the law. Ultimately, Rance assimilates to the lawlessness of the West, which is shown when he obtains a gun and makes his intentions clear to take the law into his own hands and bring Liberty Valence to justice (at least the Western idea of "justice").

On the whole, Matheson's assessment of these characters is accurate and fair. Each character acts according to their role in the story: Liberty Valance the sociopathic villain, Tom Doniphon the existential antihero, and Rance Stoddard the gullible and idealistic "greenhorn." These characters seem to fit the mold, and do little to undermine the analysis proffered by Matheson.