J.O. The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance

The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance is a perfect description of what is known as rule by law. Matheson states that "the individual does not enforce the law; he is the law" (896). In Shinbone, Valance is able to get away with almost everything he does only because he is fast at slinging his gun. He robs Stoddard, leaves him to die, and yet no one takes action. As seen in the film, Stoddard's attempts to spur the town into action against Valance are futile, and he soon understands the law surrounding Shinbone - that there is no rule of law in the West. The town is afraid of Valance, most notably the Marshal who is symbolic of the governing law having no effect in the West. Whenever Liberty Valance is mentioned, the Marshal is petrified and as seen in the film, hides to avoid an encounter with the outlaw.

In the film, Doniphon tries to enlighten Stoddard to the rules of the West. Whereas Stoddard believes the West is similar to the East in respecting certain values, Doniphon explains that the West is nothing like that. Doniphon tells Stoddard to start packing a handgun because "Out here a man settles his own problems." This quote from the film clearly fits into what Matheson infers about the West being "ultimately corrupt and corrupting" (896). Because there is no rule of law, the individuals take matters into their own hands and in the end, as Matheson puts it, "normally law-abiding citizens tend to find themselves enmeshed in situations that require them to become criminals" (896). Stoddard was a victim of this, taking matters into his own hands concerning Valance's outrageous reign over the people of Shinbone. However, his actions came back to hurt him in the end when he was nominated for senator. The opposing party attacked him by saying a man who has blood on his hands is not representable to Washington and therefore is not good enough for the position. Yet, as it turns out, Stoddard was saved from these attacks because even though it was his intention to kill Valance, Doniphon was the true "hero," the one that killed Valance.

Doniphon, however, is not actually what one can refer to as a hero in this film. Matheson refers to characters like Doniphon, those who's values don't exactly measure up to that of a genuine hero, as anti-heroes. Doniphon, an alpha-male cowboy, is somewhat on the same level as Liberty Valance. Like Valance, Doniphon abides by the law of the gun and can live with the fact that he murdered someone. However, what sets them apart is that whereas Valance is a sociopath, that is he has no conscience of what is right and wrong, Doniphon does. Moreover, Doniphon operates on duty-based ethics. Matheson infers that "according to duty-based ethics, individuals are expected to regulate their desires by conforming to fixed standards of behavior" (902). To me, it appeared that Doniphon detested Stoddard to some degree. Why? Because he was slowing stealing his girl. Why help the one who is taking your girl? This mentality is not the mentality of a genuine hero. Similarly, in the restaurant scene, Doniphon did not stand up to Valance for Stoddard's sake; instead, he did it because Valance messed up his meal. Still, for Hally's sake, Doniphon tries to teach Stoddard how to handle and aim a gun. Further, he rescues Stoddard by shooting Valance. Doniphon did not do these things because he wanted to; he did these things because it was his duty. Matheson states that "on the frontier where vices become virtues, however, it is not surprising that proponents of a duty-based system often find that their virtues have turned into liabilities" (902). Doniphon's duty-based ethics inevitable caused him to lose his girl, who became Stoddard's wife.