The Man Who Shot

John Ford's film The Man Who Shot Liberty Valence is a great western that exemplifies the difficult and dangerous life of the frontier. The town, Shinbone is a place where the act of one finger rules the land, until the book of law comes into the picture. The film portrays a transitional phase of the town that went from the rule of the gun to the rule of the law.

The beginning of the film takes place after the transition happened. The town is civilized with a school, church, and train station when Rans arrives. The Marshal explains to Halley that "the railroad done that." He entire time that Rans and Halley are in the town (present day) the sound of the train is heard. This shows that the town is primarily based on the railroad now. The fact that Tom is dead is reason enough to show that the old way of life is dead. The old, rusty, broken stagecoach is also proof that the way of the past is dead. Once the flashback begins the viewer begins to see that the way of the past is the same as the way of the gun.

The gun is what rules the town and there is no law in existence what so ever. Tom quickly realizes that the west is run by the gun and by crazy lawless men like Liberty Valence. Liberty and Tom are the men who rule the town by the way of gun. The lifestyles of the Shinbone citizens clearly show that the town is uncivilized. Every citizen shown in the town is drunk, smoking and going crazy at the bar. Tom even tells Rans "it doesn't matter in the west to drink and smoke." Rans is not used to this because he represents civilization and law. Even the older lady that takes care of Rans puts alcohol in his coffee, because she thinks he needs it. Tom continues to tell Rans throughout the movie that there is no law in the west and if he wants to become the attorney at law in Shinbone, he must back it up with a gun.

Rans refuses to fight for his rights with a gun and he goes on to help the town with their education about the law. He quickly finds out that no one knows his or her rights as citizens. Not only that, but they can't even read. Rans is determined to civilize the town, even if he has to die trying.

Tom and Rans really start to clash while the transition is taking place. This fight can be seen in the character Halley. Halley truly shows the entire phase that the town is going through. At first she is more or less with Tom, who represents the old way. He tells her that she is beautiful and he gives her a cactus rose. The cactus rose, which is seen in the beginning of the film, represents the old lawless west. This is symbolic for Tom, too. Rans, on the other hand, asks Halley if she has ever seen a real rose, which she hasn't. Rans promises her that one day she will see a real rose. This is a foreshadowing of what is going to happen to the town.

The school that Rans starts with the help of Halley, while Tom is gone shows more of the transition in effect. Rans runs the school in a civilized manner, with the rules of no smoking, proper English, no whipping and only appraisal. This really makes the student citizens feel a lot better. It even gets Peabody to stop smoking while he listens in to the class. The difficulty of this transition is shown when Tom busts through the door and stops the class. Rans gets frustrated and erases the words that he had written on the chalkboard: "The basis of law and order is education." This shows how the intense struggle of gun versus law is. This struggle can also be seen in the act of Rans gun practice. Rans realizes that guns are the way of life and that he must at least know how to use them. His fear of failure is what drives him to begin practicing.

The scene where all of the voting citizens are seen in the saloon shows that the law