Stagecoach Message Board
Ezekiel Zeke Steiner posts a message on 11/2/2005 10:00:11 PM
The values of the old West are represented by Ringo, played by John Wayne, a simple, god-humored, honest young man intent on avenging the murder of this brother. His more sophisticated fellow passengers in the wilderness are people who exploit others – a gambler, a whiskey salesman, and a fleeing bank manager who has stolen his town's savings. The test comes, typically, when the stagecoach is attacked by Indians in the desolate wastes of the New Mexico desert. The social parasites have lost their moral fiber, and with it their courage and sense of mutual responsibility. The group is saved by Ringo, an accused murderer; Doc Boone, a drunkard; Dallas, a prostitute; and Curly, a rough professional lawman – characters who would be shunned in more refined Eastern society. Private vices are not as socially destructive as crimes that hurt others. Acquisitiveness sets people apart; sacrifice brings them together.
Note: the views expressed here are only those of the posters.
