JM "Red River"

Matheson and Tompkins define the alpha male as a strong, quiet type who acts by an undisclosed moral code. Howard Hawk’s Red River displays the idea of the alpha male in a different way then many other westerns of its time because instead of the usual one alpha male, the movie presents two characters that show traits of the alpha male.

In many westerns there is one character that throughout the story is the underlying male presence that through a sense of self-entitled duty, takes charge of enforcing their own version of justice. As Matheson says in The West Hardboiled on page 902, “According to duty-based ethics, individual are expected to regulate their desires by conforming to fixed standards of behavior”. In Red River however, the movie begins with John Wayne’s character Thomas Dunson acting the part of the alpha male, however by the end of the movie Matt, Dunson’s adopted son, also takes the role of the alpha male. Throughout the movie we see Matt Garth transform from a fearful young boy, into a hardened cowboy. The transformation into this masculine figure is finally realized in the fight between Garth and Dunson. At this turning point in the movie it appears that there are two alpha male hero’s, however it can also be seen as the moment that John Wayne’s character is the truly an alpha male leader also. Throughout the movie Dunson portrays a number of hero qualities, including his separation from the community, his limited speech, his rugged clean shaved and spotless appearance, as well as his ability to mentor and lead Garth to being masculine also. Matheson says, “When dirt does not signify a predator, clothing does” (Page 894). One of the few moments when we see Dunson take Garth under his wing is when while traveling across the country to deliver his herd of cattle, Matt’s cattle are killed off and Matt after embarasses Dunson, must return to him for help.

One of the important concepts that were stressed throughout Red River was the continuous idea that both Dunson and Garth were limited in the amount of speech that they used. Tompkins says “ The hero is a man of few words who expresses
himself through physical action-usually fighting”. The idea of the silent cowboy helps escalate his image as a secluded and removed figure.