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
She states that “Young’s church elders swept through the outlying communities” and scrutinized “those who were found lacking” (Denton 105). Denton then focuses on the revival of blood atonement, and how it struck fear in the saints. She points out that Mormons tried to flee after the reformation was in progress, but were “hunted down and killed” (Denton, 106). In her book she talks about how the church had more problems, stating that the church was “on the brink of bankruptcy, and with apostates and internal dissenters at an all time high” (Denton 107). Denton uses all of these radical statements to illustrate and give readers an understanding of why there was tension among the Mormons.
Frankenstein , by Mary Shelley, is a novel that tells the story of a man's scientific endeavors and how through his knowledge bestows life into a lifeless matter which comes to be feared and hated by all. The Tyger, by William Blake, is a poem composed of a series of questions about a tiger that depicts the issues of creation, innocence and experience, and ultimately good and evil . Both pieces of literature describe misunderstood creatures who struggle to define themselves as solely good or evil which then leads to the questioning of their very existence.
stories of good vs. evil, or light vs. dark. In modern good and evil stories, there are super
Her physical ailments aside, Williams battles with vast inner-conflict, for her Mormon religion prevented her from speaking out and stating her struggle to the world. Overcome with frustration of misplaced authority, due to both her religion's suppression of ideas and governmental jargon, she finally offers her emotional pleas through a subtly persuasive narrative. By presenting only very common and well-known historical context, combined with personal examples through a narrative approach, Williams is targeting a large percentage of the population, especially women and those that lived through the events she speaks of and . Terry Tempest Williams indulges the reader with an aggregate of sympathetic narrative snippets, structural and stylistic shifts and a display of oppositional thinking, relating perspective and illustrating an alternative to blind obedience and emphasizing the need to civilly speak out against it.
In the Novel “Something Wicked This Way Comes” by Ray Bradbury, the characters support the Universal Theme of “Good Vs Evil”. The characters are divided into two groups; those who act morally right and are good-hearted, and those who just do not seem to have any sense of empathy and are blinded by selfishness and greed and choose to do harm for no other reason than the thrill of it. The protagonists face a series of battles with themselves and their sense of who they are, as well as against the evil forces. This evilness is reflected on the carnival freaks who constantly use fear and manipulation as a weapon to make all people egotistical and greedy, whereas our good characters utilize laughter, love and friendship to defeat the evil that is acting upon them.
The importance of the theme of good and evil is an important part of the story or in this case an epic poem. The hero is facing a big threat and needs to save the world. In this case it would be Beowulf vs. Grendel."I had a fixed purpose when I put to sea. As I sat in the boat with my band of men, I meant to perform to the uttermost what your people wanted or perish in the attempt,in
Texts can be modified or appropriated to suit different audiences or purposes, yet still remain firmly within the genre. Discuss Stoker’s ‘Dracula’ and at least one of the films you have studied.
The antagonists of the stories, who are seemingly evil characters, are interpreted differently because of the narration, thus creating ambiguity in the nature of the antagonists.
Since the rise of storytelling, one of the most important themes has been the conflict between good and evil. Often, a person’s role in society helped the audience understand what side they were on. Princes, kings, knights, these were the “good” characters. Tax collectors, witches, and other villains were quite obviously evil. In modern times, we consider law enforcement officers to be on the side of good. However, whenever a character who clearly belongs to one side or the other makes an appearance, we expect them to do something. Witches don’t just pass through town, they throw fireballs and put curses on people. Knights don’t simply gallop by, they stop and rescue damsels in distress. If a character who clearly belongs to one side or the other appears and fails to advance their side’s
One part of this movie that really got my attention and interest was the Fellowship of the Ring, which is basically the common theme of “good versus evil.” This theme has been commonly used in most fantasy novels and movies. To give example of rhetoric, anyone who has read or seen the Lord of the Rings should be familiar with Frodo, who is on a mission to destroy an evil ring. Boromir, who is considered the tall one, initially accompanies Frodo on his quest, but is corrupted by the
Given the certain circumstances, literature is a very strong thing in this world. It has the power to shape beliefs of the reader, such as who to love or hate, why people did certain things in the story, or even the understanding of whether someone did the right thing or not. The author has the control of what to think, and it’s like they are the puppet master in the whole operation. Not only do they have the control of the reader’s belief, they get to choose who is given power, and gets to shape people’s beliefs in the story itself. It’s not also positive sometimes either. As shown, in literature, power can be given to individuals whose use it to negativity shape people’s beliefs.
In a normal novel, there is a protagonist that the Western reader wants to identify with himself. Everyone wants to think of themselves as have some redeeming value in their lives, and for the most part, people usually think the good in them outweighs the bad. So how come in many Western novels the bad guy is thoroughly and totally corrupt and evil. The antagonist in Western literature today has become someone who the reader can look at and hate. Raskolnikov is definitely the protagonist, for clearly the action of the novel centers around him. But can he be called the "good guy"? He does terrible things on impulse, but his urge for doing good and kind acts is just as impulsive. He saves a family from certain destitution, and helps many people before he is sent to Siberia at the end of the novel. The reader wants to identify with Raskolnikov, but can't because of the murders. The reader also can't side against Raskolnikov and identify with Porifry Petrovitch, the
“The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde” by Robert Louis Stevenson and “Macbeth” by Shakespeare are novels that involve the theme of duality through good and evil aspects. Duality refers to having two parts, often with opposite meanings, like the duality of good and evil. In both the novels, the theme of duality is portrayed through setting, sleep, human nature and appearance. This literary technique is used to show the extremes of good and evil, and by using these elements, authors are able to cover an entire spectrum of good and evil through the several themes.
Throughout many works of literature, a prominent theme has been “Good vs. Evil';. Many authors base the plot of their novels around “good guys'; fighting the “villain';.Robert Louis Stevenson contrasts good and evil through many of the characters thathe creates.
Westerns connote images of dirt, dust, guns, horses, cowboys and heroes: physically strong, iron-willed, independent, resourceful, quick-witted men. Although the modern Western (the writings of Louise L’Amour, Zane Grey and the numerous films starring John Wayne, Roy Rodgers, Gene Autry) seems to focus on this ideal hero, the genre actually also provides women with strong, self-reliant, active roles. In fact, many texts that precede the typical modern Western had females as the main characters. However, the role of the heroine still differs from that of the hero; the role does not defeminize women but gives them depth as characters. These women still retain their femininity and domesticity, but they also rescue those around them, take care