“In fact all the qualities required of the protagonist are qualities required to complete an excruciatingly difficult task: self-discipline; unswerving purpose; the exercise of knowledge, skill, ingenuity, and excellent judgment; and a capacity to continue in the face of total exhaustion and overwhelming odds” (Tompkins 12).The protagonist in all John Wayne western films is very often also regarded as an alpha-male cowboy; the strong, silent type who only says something when they feel it necessary. In the film “Red River” there are two alpha-male cowboys seen. The first is Tom Dunson; it is made very clear in the beginning of the movie that he is an alpha-male cowboy and the leading male figure in the movie. But as the film continues Matthew Garth grows into the alpha-male cowboy role and finally gains the respect of Dunson.
The movie opens with Tom Dunson and Fen together. Fen is the woman that Tom is in love with. This is an unusual way for the movie to open because westerns seldom show the alpha-male having an intimate relationship with a woman. But shortly after the true alpha-male characteristics come out when Tom decides he must leave to go south and start a cattle ranch. Fen wants to go with him but he will not allow it saying instead that he will send for her when he can. Only to later find out that she has been killed by Indians who raided where she was. Just as with every alpha-male cowboy they often lose the one they love in pursuit of living the western life, but he does not slow down his journey at all to remember the lost one he loved. Instead he carries on willing to kill anyone in his path he is everything Matheson describes in the alpha-male cowboy. Dunson lives by the law of the gun because according to Matheson “out here a man settles his own problems” (896). Tom kills one of the men who came to tell him that the land he wanted to settle on belonged to Don Diego. He shot them because they began to reach for their gun and he only killed one making sure to have the other one send the message back to Diego. After building up his cattle farm he decides to head to Missouri to sell them because that is where the profit for the meat is. He shows his dominance by taking control of all his men and bringing them west, he has no sympathy for them driving them very hard. Going right along with Tompkins point she makes saying “westerns give small rein to the body’s need for food, sleep, shelter, sex, and overall comfort” (84). His men became scared of what he might do to them if they deserted the camp.
Matthew Garth is the second alpha-male cowboy in the story, when Tom was traveling down south with Groot they came upon Matthew wandering in the desert. The way he was describing things made it sound like he was in the same place Fen was that got ambushed by the Indians. Tom took Matthew under his wing, raising him from that day on and it is because of Tom’s influence I believe that Matthew developed into an alpha-male cowboy as well. Matthew is regarded as one of the best shooters in the area, when asked how he became so good he tells them he learned from Tom. However, Matthew does not look to brutally kill somebody for no reason, he only shots when he finds it most necessary. For example when Dunson was about to kill the man who started the stampede, Matthew pulls his gun out quicker and shots the man but he shots him only to would him which in turn saved his life from Tom. Matthew really develops into the alpha-male role when he takes over the cattle drive because the men longer trust Dunson; he successfully leads them to Missouri. Only to find Dunson there too.
An important point I believe there is to point out is at the beginning of the movie when Tom shows Matthew the Red River symbol with the D on it that he is going to brand all his cattle with, Matthew says he wants to add an M onto the brand as well. But Tom tells him that in order for that to happen he must earn it and at the end of the movie Tom tells Matthew that he will add an M onto the brand. This shows that by the end of the movie Matthew was finally able to earn the respect of Tom. Dunson and Matthew showdown at the end of the movie but it is broken up by Tess, Matt’s girl. It could be argued that both lose their alpha-male role because they give into what Matheson and Tompkins believe the alpha-male doesn’t give into and that is a woman.
“In fact all the qualities required of the protagonist are qualities required to complete an excruciatingly difficult task: self-discipline; unswerving purpose; the exercise of knowledge, skill, ingenuity, and excellent judgment; and a capacity to continue in the face of total exhaustion and overwhelming odds” (Tompkins 12). The protagonist in western films is the alpha-male cowboy; the strong, silent type who only says something when he feels it necessary. In the film “Red River” there is two alpha-male cowboys Tom Dunson and Matthew Garth. It is made clear in the beginning of the film that Tom Dunson is an alpha-male cowboy and the leading male figure, but as the film continues Matthew Garth grows into the alpha-male cowboy role and ultimately gains the respect of Dunson.
ReplyDeleteThe movie opens with Tom Dunson and Fen, the woman Tom is in love with. This is an unusual way for the movie to open because westerns seldom show the alpha-male having an intimate relationship with a woman. Tom soon turns back to the alpha-male ways when he decides he must leave to go south and start a cattle ranch. Fen wants to leave with him, but Tom tells her she cannot come right now and he will send for her when he can. Shortly after he leaves Fen is killed by Indians who raid the settlement she lives in. Tom like most alpha-male cowboys loses the one he loves in pursuit of living the western life. He does not slow down on his journey to remember the lost one he loved, instead carries on willing to kill anyone in his path. Tom is everything Matheson describes in the alpha-male cowboy. Tom lives by the law of the gun because “out west a man settles his own problems” (Matheson 896). Tom kills a man who came to tell him that the land he wanted to settle on belonged to Don Diego. He shot him to make a point that no one was going to kick him off the land; he only killed one making sure there would be someone to send the message back to Diego. After building up his cattle herd he decides to head to Missouri with all the cattle and sell it because the meat was in high demand. Dunson shows his dominance by rounding up all his men and bringing them west and when they travel together he shows no sympathy, driving them very hard. “Westerns give small rein to the body’s need for food, sleep, shelter, sex, and overall comfort” (Tompkins84). Dunson could handle the western landscape so he believed all his men should be capable of the same thing.
Matthew Garth is the second alpha-male cowboy in the film. Tom came across Matthew wandering alone when he was traveling down south with Groot. Tom took Matthew under his wing, raising him from that day one and it is because of Tom’s influence that Matthew developed into an alpha-male. Matthew is regarded as one of the best shooters in the area and when asked how he became so good he tells them he learned from Tom. By being one of the best shooters around Matthew is working his way to alpha-male status because as Matheson points out every hero is the best shooter around. However unlike Tom, Matthew does not look to brutally kill somebody for no reason he only shots when he finds it most necessary. For example when Dunson was about to kill the man who started the stampede, Matthew pulls his gun out quicker and shots the man just wounding him. Matthew starts to fully develop into the alpha-male role when he takes over the cattle drive because the men longer trust Dunson. He successfully leads them to Missouri only to find Dunson there too.
An important point that shows the relationship between the two and Matthews’s growth into an alpha-male is when Tom shows Matthew the Red River symbol with the D on it that he is going to brand all his cattle with. Matthew tells Dunson that he wants to add an M onto the brand symbol, but Tom tells him that he must earn it. At the end of the movie Tom tells Matthew that when he returns he will add an M onto the brand. This shows that by the end of the movie Matthew was finally able to earn the respect of Tom.