CHARACTER ANALYSIS
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Movie character analysis
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“The Man Who Killed Liberty Vallance,”character analysis
“The Man Who Killed Liberty Vallance,” is an old- western themed movie which dwells
on issues of justice, law and the contrast between traditional west, and civilization. Ransom
“Ranse” Stoddard, a lawyer, played by James Stewart, is the lead character in this film. Another
significant character mentioned in the story is Tom Doniphon played by John Wayne who was a
rough rancher. Hallie Stoddard played by Vera Miles is central to the tale and also the wife of
Ranse Stoddard. The antagonist who is also renowned outlaw is Liberty Valance who was played
by Lee Marvin. The neighbourhood daily is edited by Edmond O’Brian who played Dutton
Peabody. He portrays the role of a love-able but unintelligent town marshal named Marshal Link
Appleyard as played by Andy Devine. Woody Strode plays as Pompey, the faithful ranch hand of
Tom Doniphon.
The following is the analysis of the characters who participated in this film;
Ranse Stoddard
1.
I don't want to shoot him,I want to put him in jail.This is the quote when Ranse Stoddard
talking with Tom by
refutes Tom with Stewart’s familiarly reedy voice piping out the
keywords: “I don’t want to kill him; I want to put him in jail!” Which certainly doesn’t
seem very likely at that point.
In this case, Ransom Stoddard represents his faith in law as a supreme authority. Tom
Doniphon is a hardened man who believes that the legal system will not stop Liberty
Valance. He is also dedicated to law and order. Furthermore, this speech depicts Stoddard’s
support for the legal system while showing that he will fight against Valance using the
law. He knows that Valance cannot so easily be traced and prosecuted by the normal legal
system because there are things that cannot so clearly be understood by those who have not
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lived
the
violent
life
of
West.
2. Have you ever seen the cactus Rose?This is the quote by Ranse Stoddard which reveals
Stoddard as incapable of adjusting to the life of the West: when Tom brings Hallie a "cactus
rose," Stoddard, having seen real roses, cannot appreciate the beauty of the desert flower.
There is a symbolic moment in the movie where Ranse Stoddard says he is unable to
enjoy the cactus rose as much as he can appreciate a real rose. By comparing his "Eastern"
sensibilities with the harsh realities of the frontier, which is this vignette highlights Stoddard's
inability to adjust to the wild and untamed West.
3. Is everyone in this country kill crazy?
This was the Ranse conversation when he decided to prevent and avoid a deadly
confrontation, Ransom rose between the two of them and shouted out:
What's the matter? Everybody in this country kill-crazy?
He kow-towed to prevent a further skirmish by picking up the steak himself: "Here! Now,
it's picked up!" The stand-off was averted and defused, and peace was restored by Stoddard's
civilizing and mediating action. Valance dropped three coins onto the floor for Doniphon's new
steak order: "Why don't you get yourself a fresh steak on me?" - again challenging Tom to pick
up the coins. When Doniphon was unwilling to be subservient or bluffed into needlessly drawing
his gun, the sneering Liberty announced: "Show's over for now," and the trio exited after him.
Outside, Valance took a swig and tossed his half-empty bottle of whiskey through the restaurant's
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front window, and then randomly shot up the town to further victimize it before riding off with
his buddies.
4. Pompey:Sorry, Mr Ranse I just plain forgot it.
This wa a quote when Pompey was talking to Ranse Stoddard about the written
documents written by Mr Thomas Jefferson which he called constitution and declaration for
indipendence Mr Ranse Stoddard replied that
"Oh, it's all right, Pompey. A lot of people forget
that part of it. You did just fine, Pompey."
5.Ransom Stoddard: You’re not going to use the story, Mr. Scott?
Maxwell Scott: No, sir. This is the West, sir. When the legend becomes fact, print the legend.
This was the quote conversation between Ransom Stoddard and Mr Scott's the local news
writter, when
at the end of Stoddard's flashback after he finished his true tale about his past,
local newspaper editor Maxwell Scott (Carleton Young) delivered a famous line of dialogue in
the film's conclusion as he ripped up his novice reporter's notes and refused to publish the truth
of the story
Tom Doniphon
1. Liberty valance is the toughest man south of the picketwire , except for me.
This was the quote said by Ranse Stoddard when he attended Tom doniphon funnel he
explained to the newsletter Mr Scott Tom Doniphon is a local farmer, who observes, "Liberty
Valance's the toughest man south of the Picketwire--next to me." Valance and his two sidekicks
hold up a stagecoach on the way to town, and when one of the passengers, Ransom, stands up to
him Liberty nearly whips him to death.
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2. Your awful pretty when you're mad.
This was ithe quote when Thom danidon in few times the audience is brought
significantly closer to Tom is when he talks to Hallie, telling her that “she’s awful pretty when
she gets mad” but such flirting is then followed by more macho criticism of Ranse’s ways.
Another significant medium close-up of Tom occurs during the confrontation between Tom and
Liberty when Tom dares Liberty to “just try it” as Liberty turns as if to draw his gun while
leaving the restaurant.
3. My boy Pompey can drink here any time.
This was the quote by Thom doniphon he was talking to Pompey and insist him to drink
bear but Pompey refused and say "No sir No, sir. We got a mare in foal, and horses to feed and
water. You come on home.
4. You talk too much,think too much,,,you taught her how to read and writenow give her
something.
This is the quote from Tom Doniphon when he was talking with Ranse Stoddard and tell
him Valance is already Shot during night so Ranse have to take Hallie's as his wife and teach her
how to read and . Go back in there and take that nomination. You taught her how to read and
write; now give her something to read and write about.
Hallie
1. It aint mannerly out west to let a man drink by himself.
This is the quote when Ranse was talking with Hellie and the film compares Stoddard’s
and Tom’s reactions to the aquavit, which Nora adds to Stoddard’s coffee. Tom says that “it ain’t
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mannerly out west to let a fella drink by himself”
He’s about to drink from the bottle, but Hallie
swipes it from him.
2. What good as reading and writing done for you? You're in an apron!
This was the conversation quote by Ranse and Hellie who was asking Ranse ,Ranse Stoddard
recuperates and settles in to life in Shinbone, continuing to stay with Hallie and the Ericsons. He
works washing dishes and waiting tables in their eatery, and establishes a daily school to teach
the locals, including Hallie, how to read and write.
3. You do not tell me where I can go or what I can do.
4.Oh I don't know what I would do if I Lost you.
This was the conversation between Ranse and Hellie when Ranse was talking to Hallie about
their relationship, it was a time return back from Tom's funeral.
5. Ranse: who put cactus Rose in on Tom's coffins?
This was the question Ranse asked Hellie, on the train back to Washington, Stoddard asks Hallie
who placed the rose on the coffin, and she tells him. Stoddard realizes that his wife has always
been in love with another man. Just then the train conductor stops by to tell Stoddard that they'll
get him back to Washington in two days,She sends Devine to cut down a rose, and as he does,
she places the box on the seat, her fingers on the lid. Later, by the coffin, Hallie takes the box
from Devine, and when Stoddard leaves the room to talk to a newspaper man, just before the
camera turns to him, we see her remove the cord and begin to lift the lid. At the end of the film,
after Stoddard has told the story of Liberty Valance, he returns to view the coffin and finds the
cactus rose set on top of it. We are to infer that Hallie threw away her hat, the symbol of her
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attachment to the East and to Stoddard, at Donophon's ranch and replaced it with the rose she
brought him. Like a tabernacle, the box bore her heart's desire to Donophon's wake.
Other characters
1. This is west sir when the legends become facts print the legends
This was the conversation quote by the local newswriter (Maxwell Scott's) when he was talking
to Ranse as soon as he arrive to the Tom's funeral.
2. What kind of man are YOU dude?
This was the conversation quote heard when the woman was screaming and complaining to her
man.
3. Go west young man,and grow young with the country
This is the quote where by the origin of which is often credited to the American author and
newspaper editor Horace Greeley concerning America's expansion westward, related to the
concept of Manifest destiny. No one has yet proven who first used this phrase in print.When the
legend becomes fact, print the legend." That's more than the code of a newspaperman in The
Man Who Shot Liberty Valance;
Conclusion
The film addresses current issues such as justice, honesty, courage, among other related
ageless topics, and highlights how one town transformed from chaos to civilization. It
problematizes assumptions about fact or fiction, how history is infused by such narratives, and
whether justice, equality have a place in contemporary discourse. Viewers are made to ponder on
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the challenges of getting genuine justice. Most of the characters, particularly Tom Doniphon and
Ransom Stoddard, demonstrate many characteristics of courageousness. This is a mirror of the
ongoing debate in our age about what a hero and a sacrifice should be. Contemporary culture
contains its own heroes who undertake their share of sacrifices just as in the film there is an issue
of what characterizes a hero, what sacrifices are needed in heroic achievements.
9
References
Aristotle, Nichomachean Ethics, trans. Terence Irwin, 2nd edition (Indianapolis: Hackett
Publishing Company, 1999), 1180a15–24.
John Locke, Second Treatise of Government, ed. C. B. McPherson (Indianapolis: Hackett, 1980),
section 7, 9–10.
The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, DVD, directed by John Ford, (1962; Hollywood, CA):
Paramount Pictures, June 5, 2001. The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance was added to the
Library of Congress's National Film Registry in 2007; see National Film Preservation
Board, “National Film Registry 2007: Films Selected to the National Film Registry,
Library of Congress—2007,” http://www.loc.gov/film/nfr2007.html. Films are chosen for
this registry because they are “culturally, historically or aesthetically” significant.
National
Film
Preservation
Board,
“About
the
Board,”
http://www.loc.gov/film/filmabou.html
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