Volu m e II - Purdue University Calumet

absent from this one. Liberty Valance will take place entirely with the constructs of modern civilization, the
town of Shinbone. The freedom and individualism that the valley represented has been eliminated by this
point. Rather than portraying civilization as struggling to make a place for itself in this film, it is already
established. Even the one shot the audience sees of openness is impeded by society. A train –the hackneyed
symbol of progress in the Western- runs through the very heart of the wilderness. There is no place that
civilization has not reached by this point, and there is no place left for the individual to retreat. The only
sense Ford gives of a place for the individual within the town is through the outside. Many of the scenes shot
in the film’s “present” are interior, representative of the settled nature of the “present”. Meanwhile the
scenes in the flashback are primarily exterior or in Hallie’s family restaurant, both locations that will be
“tamed” with the presence of Stoddard.
When Link takes Hallie for a ride to the remains of Doniphon’s ranch, outside the town limits, the
place appears ghostlike, deserted and reduced to ashes. Nature could only flourish before the days of
civilization. Doniphon’s dream of settling down in that house would never be achieved. Throughout all the
films, Wayne’s character has never been able to exist in a domestic setting. Any home he is trying to make
is incomplete or destroyed. The home as representative of civilization can never be a haven to Doniphon.
He does not fit in that frame of society. While he can participate in the building of such a structure, of
civilization, he will never be able to exist inside such an institution.
The flashback tells of Stoddard’s willfully bringing civilization to Shinbone. He brings law books,
teaches people how to read and write, and represents the town in the territorial legislature and then on
national and international levels. He is the new hero of the people. In the “present” era of the film,
Shinbone is portrayed as very modern with a large newspaper and established schools, a far cry from the
town Ranse first encountered. The growth of Shinbone is attributed to Ranse. His arrival in Shinbone
brought in a flush of new ideas that lead to growth and reform. Had he not come the civilization would not
have stagnated.
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