SK "The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance"

Tom Doniphon, one of the main characters played by John Wayne, is shown to be an alpha male cowboy in John Ford's The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance. As Sue Matheson explains, John Wayne's character is represented as the hardboiled antihero. In Matheson's perspective, Doniphon is definitely a cowboy who has a "fanatic devotion to duty--which makes him the ideal American male" (889). His actions within the film derive from his mindset of having to be a man of responsibility. He tries to fix other people's problems by using violence against those who harm them. Just like in Sue Matheson's article, Tom Doniphon is a hero developed out of WWII disillusionment. Matheson would also assess Doniphon by mentioning that he is a Western paternal character.

His interactions with Rance Stoddard, who is a lawyer from the east wishing to spread his political ideas in the West, show that Doniphon is always guiding Stoddard in how to survive and adapt in the west. Stoddard moves to the West at first believing that establishing a rule of law rather than rule by law would be a smooth transition. However, Doniphon gives him an advice saying, "You'd better start packing a handgun...I know those law books mean a lot to you but not out here. Out here a man settles his own problems" (896). A notorious man like Liberty Valance would definitely have Stoddard killed in an instant. In the west, violence is what solves conflicts between people. Furthermore, Matheson would point out that "Doniphon destroys his personal happiness by acting in good faith" (896). He tries to fulfill the happiness of other innocent people like Stoddard. Doniphon gives consent to him to take the spotlight for killing Liberty Valance and also gives his own girl to Stoddard. Doniphon is a man who has no interest in boasting about his good deeds.

Matheson would definitely classify Rance Stoddard as an outsider and a man who has a presence of a woman in the Western towns. A lawyer from the east who is unfamiliar with violence, he is characterized as a "feminized" man within The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance by the way he dresses and by the types of duties he performs. He strongly refuses the idea of carrying a gun with him and he is shown to perform woman duties, like cleaning the dishes. His type of character is caused by his origin, a man who is not western but from the outside. He deeply wishes to spread the idea of rule of law within an area ruled mostly by men who are violent and dangerous. In the end, Stoddard was the one appointed to kill Liberty Valance with a gun; however, it was Tom Doniphon who killed Valance, which kept Stoddard to remain as the man who came from the east.

Liberty Valance, the antagonist of the film, is presented as the toughest man in Shinbone after that of Tom Doniphon. Valance is a man who is characterized as a beastly figure and also someone who "simply does not walk like a human being; the outlaw lumbers about like an ape with his silver-headed cat-o'-nine-tails while flouting all that 'civilized' America holds dear: good posture, freedom of speech, and most of all, the democratic process itself' (895). He is a dangerous man who inflicts pain on innocent lives and also spreads fear on the men and women in Shinbone. A "rough, unmannered villain", he intimidates those around him with his extreme anti-social behavior. Unlike Tom Doniphon, Liberty Valance carries out violence in a different way. Portrayed as a thief and a public menace, his intentions for violence are nowhere near an act of duty and responsibility in helping others.