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Riders Of The Purple Sage Good Vs Evil

Good Essays

Samantha Hoppe – The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly
Good versus evil, the primary plot to numerous literary genres, is concretely displayed in every Western text. Whether it is cowboys versus Indians, the law versus outlaws, or cattlemen versus cattle rustlers, the audience always sides with one side, and it is always the side of “good”. The Western genre is carefully crafted to influence the audience in siding with a certain character. Authors and directors develop distinct yet similar characters to show the relationship between good and evil.
In general, the good guys consist of the hero, generally a cowboy, and his love interest. The hero is written in as a complex character with several sides to resonate with a wide variety of readers or …show more content…

He is feared by the townspeople since he has a past. He has elements of the wild and the unknown within him. Jane describes him as having “all the characteristics of the range rider’s – the leanness, the red burn of the sun, and the set changelessness that came from years of silence and solitude” (Grey 6). Lassiter was given these rough characteristics in order to intrigue the reader. On the inside, Lassiter is a much more complex character. The reader discovers that his violence is solely based on the avengement of his loved ones: his sister and, later, Jane. He yearns for the love of a woman. Lassiter’s character is unusual in the fact that he falls so deeply for Jane, enough to cease his wild ways for quite some time. He shows this by pleading, “Come with me out of Utah – where I can put away my guns an’ be a man” to Jane (193). Lassiter has a sweet spot which encourages the audience to root for him despite his misbehaviors in the past, and the element of danger adds to the sense of …show more content…

Tull and the Bishop appear to be men of virtue and high class, but they are the lowest of the low. They exercise violence in a way that even Lassiter never would, violence that targets the objects Jane loves. They broke the laws of the West by not being honest or respectful to their enemy. As a result of Tull and the Bishop’s wrongdoings, the audience ultimately comes to despise the Mormon Church. On the other hand, the western enemy, Oldring and his gang, are widely known and feared as the most dangerous group in all of Utah. In Lassiter’s words, “Olrdrin’s got a high hand here, I reckon. It’s no news up in Utah how he holes in canyons an’ leaves no track” (Grey 23). Even the mention of their name sends shivers running down the spines of the townspeople. Oldring is responsible for one of the most vicious acts, stealing cattle. That destroys livelihoods and, in turn, people. Those people don’t receive the option of dying and escaping from the nightmare. The crimes, lies, and attacks that Tull, Dyer, and Oldring commit shock persuade the readers to hate

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