Volu m e II - Purdue University Calumet

she will allow Dallas to serve her, she will not acknowledge her or offer her any validation. During the
Indian attack Dallas shields the infant from arrows with her own body, while Mrs. Mallory does nothing to
protect her own child. Yet again, instead of being grateful and accepting Dallas, she offers an ineffectual
offer of “If you ever need anything…” trailing off acknowledging the insincerity of the statement. Ford
makes it extremely clear that Dallas is beyond redeeming in society’s eyes. No matter how compassionate
or useful, she will never be accepted or redeemed in the eyes of “civil” women.
Ringo is clear in his intentions to have Dallas as his wife. While she will never be able to find a place
in proper society she can have a home in Ringo. They are similar-- society’s rejects. Both were orphaned at
a young age, deprived of, (or liberated from) the ties that bind “normal” types to the town; and both were
driven to extreme measures do to this, Dallas to prostitution and Ringo to vengeance. This pair has nothing
tying them to society. Ringo is free of civilization and he is offering Dallas a way to be free of it. To even
begin to talk about a possible relationship, the two characters have to go outside. They must escape the
constraints of the building in order to speak of the possibility of freedom. The opening shot of this
discussion shows Dallas walking out of Mrs. Mallory’s room down a long dark hallway ending in a doorway
to the outside. The hallway is the epitome of all that is narrow and constricting, showing just how
suffocating society is to Ringo and Dallas. The outside is framed as the only source of light. Dallas tries to
get Ringo to stay out of the town of Lordsburg. She earnestly does not want him to find out about her
profession. She assumes that he is unaware of her social status and that he will stop valuing her once he
discovers it. In Lordsburg she tries to keep Ringo from walking her to the brothel where she is staying. It is
in the town that she realizes that Ringo knew all along what she was. Ringo is clearly not a part of the
society that has cast her out. He sees value in Dallas and through her he sees the hope of building a new
civilization in the open wilderness. The two of them will live free together outside of society’s constraints.
In Stagecoach this idea is a valid one. Ringo is the “outsider”, portrayed as noble and free, an integral
part in securing the safety of civilization, while also being the only character possessing true morals.
295