Genre is a classification of texts based on the cathartic (emotional) response the author wants the audience to feel. There are three genres focused on offering its audience escapism (comedy, fantasy, and science fiction); three offering sentimental connection (tragedy, romance, and slice of life); three offering action-oriented thrills (war, western, and the quest for adventure); and three offering cerebral thrills of suspense (horror, mystery, and crime). These genres are defined by their use of tropes, which are consistently used literary devices like characters, plot events, settings, and motifs—these tropes become so integrated into their genre that they can often become cliché. Every genre can also blend with other genres (meaning the text has both sets of tropes) and has derivative subgenres with additional specific tropes. These twelve genres encompass both fictional and nonfictional texts as well as every kind of text structure.
WESTERN: Standing Up for What's Right
Western is a genre of artistic expression that revolves around the desire to see justice brought to an unjust society. Westerns appeal to an audience's anger at injustice and personal courage, as they ask the audience to side with a single person standing up against widespread corruption. The audience feels catharsis (the release of built-up emotions) when the Western hero prevails, the unscrupulous are punished, and the common people are allowed to choose their own destiny.
Westerns are typically set in the American West in the period between 1840 and 1920. "The Old West" is defined by environmental challenges, small isolated towns, and a constant struggle to survive. The characters that inhabit this world do whatever they can to survive, often resorting to robbery and violence to secure what few resources can be had. The Old West is a simpler world—no traffic, no remembering passwords, and no social media. The Old West is the literal antithesis of the modern city, and Westerns become popular in times when social issues and urban decay are prevalent.
However, Westerns aren't just limited to the Old West and are, in fact, a much older genre, as all cultures have stories about the frontier lands where people struggle every day to survive and civilization is barely civil. Most twentieth-century fiction set in Africa's Saharan and Kalahari Deserts fit the description of a Western. So do the samurai films of Akira Kurosawa (which became the basis of Western films A Fistful of Dollars and The Magnificent Seven). One of the earliest Westerns in literature is the legend of Robin Hood.¹
Along with War and Adventure, Western is one of the three genres of action. Action describes plots and situations that raise an audience's adrenaline due to their high stakes, fast pace, and seemingly insurmountable odds. Action stories have conflicts dependent on solving problems with a mix of brains and brawn—physical prowess, strategic thinking, and expertise with weaponry make a good action hero. While action can be thrilling, it doesn't employ suspense in the same way as the genres of suspense, and while action stories can offer an escape from the everyday world, action films only escape real-world situations if blended with one of the genres of escape.
Westerns are defined by eight tropes. They happen on THE WILD FRONTIER in remote settings where only the most hardy can survive. Far from regular government and law enforcement, this is a land of VICE and violence. Small outpost towns are settled as stops along the way for travelers, and these towns are governed by a corrupt BARON and his men, who oppress the RESTLESS NATIVES and kill anyone who opposes them. Then a STRANGER comes to town looking for PAY OR PAYBACK, often in the form of a bounty. They resist being run out of town, and, with the help of their RELIABLE FIREARM, they face off against their antagonists—the corrupt sheriff, the murderous bandit, the moneyed robber baron—in a FINAL SHOWDOWN, where they free the town from its oppressors before moving on to the next town.
Westerns are typically set in the American West in the period between 1840 and 1920. "The Old West" is defined by environmental challenges, small isolated towns, and a constant struggle to survive. The characters that inhabit this world do whatever they can to survive, often resorting to robbery and violence to secure what few resources can be had. The Old West is a simpler world—no traffic, no remembering passwords, and no social media. The Old West is the literal antithesis of the modern city, and Westerns become popular in times when social issues and urban decay are prevalent.
However, Westerns aren't just limited to the Old West and are, in fact, a much older genre, as all cultures have stories about the frontier lands where people struggle every day to survive and civilization is barely civil. Most twentieth-century fiction set in Africa's Saharan and Kalahari Deserts fit the description of a Western. So do the samurai films of Akira Kurosawa (which became the basis of Western films A Fistful of Dollars and The Magnificent Seven). One of the earliest Westerns in literature is the legend of Robin Hood.¹
Along with War and Adventure, Western is one of the three genres of action. Action describes plots and situations that raise an audience's adrenaline due to their high stakes, fast pace, and seemingly insurmountable odds. Action stories have conflicts dependent on solving problems with a mix of brains and brawn—physical prowess, strategic thinking, and expertise with weaponry make a good action hero. While action can be thrilling, it doesn't employ suspense in the same way as the genres of suspense, and while action stories can offer an escape from the everyday world, action films only escape real-world situations if blended with one of the genres of escape.
Westerns are defined by eight tropes. They happen on THE WILD FRONTIER in remote settings where only the most hardy can survive. Far from regular government and law enforcement, this is a land of VICE and violence. Small outpost towns are settled as stops along the way for travelers, and these towns are governed by a corrupt BARON and his men, who oppress the RESTLESS NATIVES and kill anyone who opposes them. Then a STRANGER comes to town looking for PAY OR PAYBACK, often in the form of a bounty. They resist being run out of town, and, with the help of their RELIABLE FIREARM, they face off against their antagonists—the corrupt sheriff, the murderous bandit, the moneyed robber baron—in a FINAL SHOWDOWN, where they free the town from its oppressors before moving on to the next town.
THE WILD FRONTIER
Westerns are intrinsically tied to their setting—it's in the name. The frontier town of a Western is a remote outpost. The town itself is perhaps a dozen wooden buildings near a train station surrounded by miles and miles of nothing. Except for mining towns, the sole purpose of the town was so those traveling west could stock up on supplies, get a drink, have a little fun, and move on.
Buildings are mostly made of adobe or weathered wooden planks. Few edifices are painted beyond a sign clarifying the establishment—the upkeep isn't worth it. The buildings in the town are all predictable: the saloon, the brothel, the hotel, the general store, the jail, the train station, the one-room schoolhouse, and the mission (church). Unless it's a mining town, the entire population survives on travelers.
The plots of Westerns involve people fighting one another, but that instinct comes second nature, as the denizens of the Old West are always fighting against the brutality of nature. The West features scorching deserts, towering mountains, scalding winds, and blinding snowstorms. Buzzards, cougars, bears, wolves, and coyotes prowl around the edges of the Western town and threaten characters and their livelihood.
Elemental resources are also scarce out west, and many Westerns feature the fight over water, oil, coal, or precious metals. Fire is also needed to survive for both warmth and light (the only electricity in a Western is typically the telegraph at the train station or bank), yet fire is also destructive. and are very susceptible to fire or, even more so, dynamite. The one trope that all others hinge upon is the elemental world that sets in motion the struggle to survive.
To survive the frontier far away from cities, every man, woman, and child has to be able to endure hardship. Westerners get used to austerity and scarcity, and living without has made them patient and soft-spoken. They hunt for their own food and build their own shelter—even the youngest child can skin a rabbit and knows how to fire a gun. Westerners are also not above less virtuous means of earning a living if need be, such as gambling or even theft. Indeed, physical strength isn't just what wins the West: survival often relies on the ability to move silently, track opponents, and outwit others.
Buildings are mostly made of adobe or weathered wooden planks. Few edifices are painted beyond a sign clarifying the establishment—the upkeep isn't worth it. The buildings in the town are all predictable: the saloon, the brothel, the hotel, the general store, the jail, the train station, the one-room schoolhouse, and the mission (church). Unless it's a mining town, the entire population survives on travelers.
The plots of Westerns involve people fighting one another, but that instinct comes second nature, as the denizens of the Old West are always fighting against the brutality of nature. The West features scorching deserts, towering mountains, scalding winds, and blinding snowstorms. Buzzards, cougars, bears, wolves, and coyotes prowl around the edges of the Western town and threaten characters and their livelihood.
Elemental resources are also scarce out west, and many Westerns feature the fight over water, oil, coal, or precious metals. Fire is also needed to survive for both warmth and light (the only electricity in a Western is typically the telegraph at the train station or bank), yet fire is also destructive. and are very susceptible to fire or, even more so, dynamite. The one trope that all others hinge upon is the elemental world that sets in motion the struggle to survive.
To survive the frontier far away from cities, every man, woman, and child has to be able to endure hardship. Westerners get used to austerity and scarcity, and living without has made them patient and soft-spoken. They hunt for their own food and build their own shelter—even the youngest child can skin a rabbit and knows how to fire a gun. Westerners are also not above less virtuous means of earning a living if need be, such as gambling or even theft. Indeed, physical strength isn't just what wins the West: survival often relies on the ability to move silently, track opponents, and outwit others.
THE STRANGER
|
Not everyone is attracted to the remoteness of the Western outpost, but some still journey across the Great American Desert looking for wide-open space, freedom from city life, a challenge, or fortune, and most settle in these small towns. However, some lone individuals move from town to town and refuse to settle. This is the protagonist of most Westerns: the stranger.
The stranger, often a Man With No Name, comes into town alone. He (or sometimes she) is weary from travel and wishes to stay for a few days. Unlike others passing through, those in charge of the outpost don't like the way the stranger looks, talks, or behaves. The harder the town bosses try to rush the stranger out, however, the more determined the stranger is to stay. Eventually, the "law" of the town will put the stranger's life in peril, so the stranger will fight back—and in fighting back will almost always rid the town of its corrupt leadership. This stranger is no hero, however. Often, the stranger is a bounty hunter who kills for money or revenge. While the stranger has a moral code and some lines they will not cross, they are quiet and stoic in principle and can kill without remorse. While they can be sentimental, they never cry or make outward demonstrations of passion (even their anger is constrained—the stranger rarely yells or is belligerent). To this end, the stranger always moves on to the next town at the end of the story because they are nomadic by nature and will never set down roots. Note that The Stranger is not the same as The Other. In literature, The Other is a trope that represents some sort of minority voice entering the world of a dominant homogeneous society. Yet the West is not homogeneous; as the West consisted of native lands and Mexico before it was invaded by white settlers, the Old West is a very diverse place with Mexican settlers, native guides, Chinese laborers, free blacks escaping eastern racism, and even Europeans looking to escape their past. The West is a very diverse place, and while prejudice still exists, it is not as socially stratified as other societies. |
BANDITS AND BARONS
|
The stranger is willing to do honest work for a living, but their antagonist is not. As a bounty hunter, the stranger chases bandits, marauders that go from place to place robbing others at gunpoint. The stranger could be chasing a single bandit or an entire gang of bandits, but they need the skills to not just fight these outlaws but also track them in a time before GPS.
However, the bandit is not the biggest threat to the stranger. That would be the wealthy yet brutal baron. Barons have excessive wealth and an official title, both of which give them power. In medieval Europe, barons got their authority and wealth from their proximity to royalty. In the Old West, barons go by the title of mayor, governor, marshall, or boss (as the robber barons of company towns did) and have wealth earned out East, where their powerful political connections earned them official appointments, land grants, and railroad commissions out West. If the stranger is a Western's antihero—one who does morally questionable things for the right reasons—the baron is the West's anti-villain—someone who does productive and constructive "good" things for the wrong reasons. The baron works to civilize the frontier: he acts to bring rail lines and major roads to the outpost, he fights to add critical services like water and mail service, and he does what he can to bring more settlers to the area. This would be noble if not for the fact that the baron only does this for one reason: profit. Unlike the other Westerners, the baron is an Eastern transplant used to the finer things, so he makes others do without so he can keep his luxuries. The baron always hoards the frontier's limited resources for himself and his friends. To assert his control, the baron has a posse that will fight on his behalf in exchange for a share of the wealth. The baron is in charge of bringing law and order to their territory, which results in the posse eliminating any dissent or rebellion, whether it comes from a gang of bandits or a stranger wanting justice. Typically, the posse is headed by the sheriff, who is the official head of law enforcement (mostly so the baron can claim ignorance to the actions of the posse). From the Sheriff of Nottingham to Sheriff Joe Cross of Eddington, the crooked sheriff is a Western trope used to demonstrate how truly lawless the town is. This isn't to say all sheriffs are bad—some are just incompetent. Stories like Rango and No Country for Old Men depict sheriffs that want to do genuine good but are so far out of their depth in dealing with the corrupted West that they just give up. While the crooked sheriff represents the corruption of law on the frontier, the cowardly sheriff represents how law is a joke on the frontier. |
RESTLESS NATIVES
|
Under the thumb of the baron and his goons are the restless natives of the town. They dislike the authority of the baron but don't fight to change things since everyone who stands up to the baron gets a bullet in the head. These individuals live in town and operate the few businesses. There's the shopkeep in charge of the general store, the editor of the town's paper, the banker, and all the colorful characters in the local saloon.
There are also restless natives outside of the town. On the plains just a couple of miles from the outpost are ranches that contain families of settlers. Unlike those in town, the settlers are hardworking, pious, and keep to themselves. They may venture into town to go to church, go to the one-room schoolhouse, do their banking, and buy supplies, but they try to avoid the rowdy lot in the town (though their hired hands aren't always so disciplined). One of these hired hands could be the cowboy, who is a heroic but naive character. The cowboy is more caring and romantically inclined than the men in town because, unlike the stranger, he isn't always traveling and can pursue love and lasting relationships. He's also more compassionate, as he is the caretaker of animals. Cowboys tend to desire peace and contentment instead of solving every problem with a bullet. This doesn't mean the Cowboy is a sissy: he is strong enough to do all the work required to care for his animals and is willing to fight for his livelihood. While Cowboys all know how to handle a gun (usually a rifle), their primary weapon is the non-lethal lasso. Of course, the most restless of the natives in the Old West are the original natives: the Amerindian tribes of the plains. During the late 19th century and early 20th century, Amerindian characters fell into two broad stereotypes: the bloodthirsty savage intent on killing every white settler and the noble savage living in harmony with nature without the corruption of money or nature. Modern Westerns acknowledge the reality of native tribes in the Old West, which fell somewhere in between: tribes would trade with settlers or travelers and were generally peaceful unless provoked by settlers trespassing on or usurping their lands. A story told from the perspective of these tribes wouldn't be a Western—it was War, as they were fighting settlers and soldiers sent by the government. Still, Amerindian characters as well as cavalry troops and buffalo soldiers will appear in Western stories. While the Cowboy uses rope as a non-lethal tool, rope is a common trope in the Old West, often taking the form of a tied-up victim or a hangman's noose. Speaking of buffalo soldiers, the actual Old West was an extremely diverse place full of Mexican rancheros, former slaves turned homesteaders, Russian Jews fleeing persecution, and Chinese immigrants brought over to build the railroad. While the Civil War and Reconstruction South struggled with Jim Crow laws and widespread prejudice, the Old West was fairly tolerant of others. Folks may have harbored racist sentiments and frowned upon miscegenation, but the towns were too small and too remote to refuse anyone's business. These outposts only started diving along racial lines and became "sundown towns" at the turn of the century as the Old West was replaced by statehood and settlement. |
Typical Western Side Characters
THE CROOKED SHERIFF
The main law enforcement for the Western town, the sheriff acts as the arbiter of "justice" in the Western town. In practice, the Sheriff follows the orders of the Baron (whether the Baron lives in town or is hundreds of miles away). The sheriff keeps the town populace under his thumb by shooting any upstarts, so the only threat to his authority comes from outside the town. This is why the sheriff is quick to dispatch with bandits (though it's not unheard of that a bandit kills a sheriff and appoints himself the new sheriff) and encourages any formidable stranger to leave town quickly. Note the word "encourage": the sheriff doesn't threaten and shoot the stranger on sight, as the town needs travelers to survive, and that'd be bad for the town's reputation. Unfortunately, the sheriff's congenial attitude disappears at the first sign of disruption.
THE DOPEY DEPUTY
An assistant to the sheriff is the deputy. Unlike his boss, the deputy is usually genuinely good-natured but incompetent. The deputy is either too cowardly to actually fight or too inexperienced with a gun; otherwise, they would have dispatched with the corrupt sheriff long ago. Alas, the Deputy dislikes the corruption going around them but does nothing about it because they feel powerless. Often, a source of their powerlessness is that they only earned their position as a favor to the baron, who happens to be the deputy's father or uncle. If given the chance, the deputy will help the stranger free the town from the corrupt sheriff, and thanks to the time spent with the stranger, they will be able to take the role of the new just sheriff. Occasionally, the sheriff himself plays this naive, powerless role as a baron or bandit directly rules the town with their thugs.
THE SALOON MISTRESS
The smartest character in a Western is also its most flamboyant. The owner of the town saloon is almost always an unmarried woman referred to as "Miss." Why? No man could charm lawmen when they try to shut down her illegal activities like she can, and no man would dare treat a lady with the same violence they afford to other men out west. This makes the saloon mistress the most savvy character in town, and the stranger will often befriend (and sometimes even romance) her so he can learn more about the town. If the saloon doubles as a brothel, the saloon mistress also acts as its madam, and she may have even been a former sex worker herself. While she dresses extravagantly and likes the finer things in life, she doesn't exploit others for wealth like the baron. In fact, she is matronly and protective of her girls and the town in general.
THE WORKING GIRL
The working girl lives in the saloon and works for the saloon mistress as a sex worker, a dancing girl, or a waitress (or sometimes all three). Regardless, the working girl dreams of earning enough to take a train out East or to San Francisco to escape the drudgery of frontier life. Of course, they could always speed up the process by catching the eye of one of the wealthy gamblers that pass through town, so the working girl is very flirty with everyone. The working girl is often a romantic interest of the cowboy or deputy but occasionally falls for the Stranger.
THE BARKEEP
Someone needs to serve the drinks, and that'd be the barkeep. The barkeep is typically an older male and most likely the strongest man in town. He has to be tough if he wants to defend the bar from rowdies that would steal the precious alcohol from the shelves and gold from the till. The barkeep will act as a bouncer for the saloon and will eject anyone who gets too drunk, too belligerent, or too handsy with the girls. Yet the barkeep is not an inherently violent man: he is calm and patient, even with mouthy drunks. The barkeep will often be the first person any traveler, including the stranger, will speak to when they arrive, so while the bartender is no-nonsense, he is welcoming and will even impart advice to those that will listen.
THE TOWN DRUNK
While the barkeep is no-nonsense, the town drunk is all nonsense. He serves as the equivalent of the fool character in other stories and offers some comedic relief to the story. While humorous, the town drunk is also a pitiable character, as they drink to escape a horrible event that befell them in the violent world of the frontier. Still, the town drunk is a beloved figure by the locals—even the barkeep is hesitant to throw him out. When matters are dire, however, the drunk can sober up and impress even the stranger with his wisdom and skill. While disheveled and often found sleeping on a bench outside the saloon, the town drunk is no bum: usually, he is the town doctor, town preacher, or a wealthy shop owner.
THE SHOPKEEP
The town needs other business owners selling supplies to the weary traveler and enduring the menace of the corrupt sheriff. The most essential of these is the general store owner, who sells the goods that people need to survive and is also willing to buy supplies—in a remote town, they are an invaluable asset to the Stranger. The general store owner may also be the town's banker. The banker not only controls the town's treasure but also has the town's telegraph—the only real communication to the outside world—and is the one that pays the Stranger for the bounties they collect. Some Westerns have a news editor that publishes a newspaper for the town and local farms, and this character is mainly used as a source of exposition for the Stranger. Other townsfolk commonly seen are the wheelwright (who fixes wagons), the blacksmith (who shoes horses), and perhaps the two busiest men in town, the doctor and the undertaker.
THE DANDY
Typically a traveler journeying from coast to coast, the dandy is always impeccably dressed, refined, and well-groomed. The dandy stands out against the rough and coarse men that usually populate the Old West. While occasionally a cowboy or a bounty hunter like the stranger, the dandy is usually a high-rolling gambler. The men of town think they can outplay the more effete dandy and take his money, but the dandy always proves to be the most skilled card player. If the men try to take the dandy's money through violence, they find that he is just as tough as any of them (and a better shot to boot). The dandy is also a successful ladies' man—after all, he is the only man for miles who doesn't curse and bathes regularly.
THE SCHOOLMARM
This character is the antithesis of the West: she comes from a town out East to take a job as the only teacher in a town. The schoolmarm quickly finds it difficult to teach refinement and civility in a place as coarse as the West. Worse, she is a prude that objects to vice and libidinous frivolity—this not only drives men away from her but also gives her little in common with the women in town, who are either working on the ranch or working at the saloon. While strict and uptight, the schoolmarm is sentimental and a lover of nature and the beauty of the West. This makes her a good match for the sentimental cowboy, though sometimes she makes for a good romantic interest for the stranger as both are outsiders.
THE PREACHER
In a town brimming with vice, its moral center is the town preacher. With Bible in hand (and often whiskey on his breath), he tends to his small flock of settler families and working girls with next-day regrets. Other than Sunday Mass and the occasional wedding, the padre mostly occupies his time with funerals. Like other authorities on the frontier, the preacher is ineffectual, but unlike the baron or the sheriff, he remains free of corruption. The preacher is not completely useless, however, as he often gives guidance and provides clarity to the stranger.
THE WISE CHIEF
Another character known for their wisdom is the tribal chief. While not often seen in Western stories and never seen in town, the chief is a font of natural wisdom and understanding. The Stranger or the Cowboy will only encounter the chief if they are lost or injured—sometimes, a more open-minded person from town (like the Saloon Misstress or Schoolmarm) will bring an ill or hurt man that the town doctor can't cure to the chief (who also serves as the tribe's medicine man or woman); other times, they will be discovered by the tribe, captured, and brought to see the chief. The chief sees the inner goodness and righteousness of the Stranger or Cowboy, and they receive both his help and his blessing to defeat their antagonist and save the day.
THE NOBLE GUIDE
Other than the occasional young Amerindian woman who leaves her tribe and becomes a working girl at the brothel, the only Amerindian who frequently appears and willingly goes into town is the noble guide. An update to the noble savage trope of the Romantic movement, the noble guide is friendly to settlers and strangers alike while not sacrificing their native identity and connection with nature. These guides are male, fleet of foot, and unimposing—this is why tribes use them as envoys between the tribe and the settlers. The settlers are congenial to the guide because of what he has to offer them: he is a master tracker that can find anything or anyone in the vast nothingness of the plains. While the Stranger doesn't usually have traveling companions, they are more likely to travel with a guide than any other Western character.
PAY AND PAYBACK
If all these characters fight and kill to survive, what separates the good from the bad (and the ugly)?
It comes down to motivation. Antiheroes are motivated by a moral code, while bandits and barons believe in the survival of the fittest. An antihero may do questionable things for questionable reasons, but they end up on the good side of the ledger. Still, it's difficult to tell the difference between the right and wrong side of the law because the Stranger and his antagonists share the same motivations: money and revenge.
How does this work? Every Western story uses at least one of the following plotlines for its main conflict:
Money is a key factor in each of those conflicts, but what about revenge? In a world full of death and murder, there will always be characters that want payback for a loved one killed or double-cross on a robbery. While this could have happened in the past, it often happens in the story: the baron and his goons cross a line by killing someone endeared to the Stranger (or rob and run the stranger off only for the Stranger to return). Revenge ties into the idea that justice ultimately prevails on the frontier: while vices like drinking and gambling are tolerable, one cannot kill or rob without consequence. The reason the Stranger wins at the end is because they are the consequence for those who do wrong, as they chase bounties and are the killer of killers.
It comes down to motivation. Antiheroes are motivated by a moral code, while bandits and barons believe in the survival of the fittest. An antihero may do questionable things for questionable reasons, but they end up on the good side of the ledger. Still, it's difficult to tell the difference between the right and wrong side of the law because the Stranger and his antagonists share the same motivations: money and revenge.
How does this work? Every Western story uses at least one of the following plotlines for its main conflict:
- Seeking the treasure: The characters are chasing fortune, either in the form of a cache of money hidden somewhere or something worth a large sum of money, like a bounty. The Stranger comes to town looking for the treasure but has to compete with others also seeking the treasure or those protecting the treasure. Sometimes, the treasure was stolen from the personal wealth of the baron, and they want it back. This story blends the Western and Adventure.
- Breaking into the fortress: Instead of chasing after a treasure, the treasure is in a known location, and the Stranger is locked in battle with the antagonists to either protect or extract the treasure. The fortress may be a bank, a jail, or even an actual fortress besieged by a gang of thugs or tribe of Native Americans (though this last example crosses into the next conflict). This blends Western with War.
- Defending the homestead: This conflict is an inversion of the typical Western where an honest sheriff or friendly cowboy has to defend the town, the ranch, or the herd from strangers looking to rob and kill. This threat usually comes from a gang of bandits or a native tribe threatening the populace, although sometimes the threat is the city and civilization encroaching on the frontier (think the oil barons in There Will Be Blood). Often, the town is overwhelmed, and it is up to the lone sheriff or cowboy to turn the tide and win the day.
Money is a key factor in each of those conflicts, but what about revenge? In a world full of death and murder, there will always be characters that want payback for a loved one killed or double-cross on a robbery. While this could have happened in the past, it often happens in the story: the baron and his goons cross a line by killing someone endeared to the Stranger (or rob and run the stranger off only for the Stranger to return). Revenge ties into the idea that justice ultimately prevails on the frontier: while vices like drinking and gambling are tolerable, one cannot kill or rob without consequence. The reason the Stranger wins at the end is because they are the consequence for those who do wrong, as they chase bounties and are the killer of killers.
THE RELIABLE FIREARM
|
While Western towns do technically have rule of law in the form of a Sheriff, the town is always controlled by whoever has the biggest posse, the most wealth, and the best skills with a gun.
Gunslinging is, with the possible exception of knowing how to ride a horse, the most useful skill needed in the Western frontier. The ability to use a gun defines a survivor from a corpse. And the best gunslinger is, of course, the stranger, whose prowess with their revolver or rifle has been honed by frequent use on the wild frontier. In contrast, the villainous baron is not nearly as skilled with firearms, which is why they rely on their posse to fight their battles for them. The stranger takes care of their gun because the gun takes care of them, and thus their gun is consistently reliable. They may miss an occasional shot but never because the gun jammed. Many western antiheroes even name their guns, as they've had a longer relationship with their weapon than any man or woman. The only thing the Stranger may value more than their gun is their loyal horse (though affinity for one's horse is more characteristic of cowboys than strangers). Guns aren't the only valued weapon, however. Almost every Western also involves a character's use of knives and dynamite. The frontier is a place where everyone needs to kill so they can eat, so everyone is adept with a buckknife, even the baron and the barmaid. Additionally, dynamite was essential in mining and the creation of railroads, so it was plentiful in the Old West. Dynamite allows the stranger to destroy physical barriers that one person alone couldn't overcome, though it's not very common that it is used to intentionally kill. Expanding out beyond the Old West, other Western stories have their own version of the reliable gun. After all, every frontier is a place of survival and requires hunting and fighting to survive. Most of the time, this is a bow and arrow, the ranged weapon of choice for Robin Hood. In samurai stories, the cherished weapon is the katana. |
VICE
|
Western characters don't tend to live too long, so they fill their time with as much pleasure as possible. Nowhere is this more evident than the staple of the Western town: the saloon. The saloon is an essential location in a Western because it's a place where everyone in town meets—high class, low class, resident, and traveler alike. Where else would the stranger encounter the baron? Where else would the bandits figure out where the wealth in town was so they could take it?
Everyone in town hits up the saloon because it is the literal "watering hole," i.e., the only place for miles to get clean water... or something stronger. Alcohol is the primary refreshment served at the saloon, and it is synonymous with the Old West not just because it is connected with the other debauchery found in saloons but also because alcohol by its very nature is antiseptic and often safer to drink than dirty water found on the frontier. And what of that other debauchery? Saloons were also host to gambling and dancing girls, and some supporting characters of the Western are the saloon's pianist, the barkeep, and the girls providing the entertainment. And often, the entertainment the girls offer goes beyond the stage, as the saloon in a Western also commonly serves as a brothel. These vices are enjoyed by everyone—even the "good guys." This unsavoriness can make it hard to distinguish the heroes from the villains, as both engage in the same vices, but only the antiheroes of the West have moral codes of honor and loyalty. Everyone gambles, but the antihero won't cheat. Everyone drinks, but the antihero isn't a violent drunk who causes problems. Everyone kills, but the antihero's kills are justified. |
THE FINAL SHOWDOWN
|
The climax of the Western speaks for itself: it's high noon. The story's antihero stands at one end of the dusty main street in the clapboard town and calls out to the antagonist. The antagonist slowly turns to face down the antihero. Both are frozen in place and will reach for their gun at any second. The townsfolk dive behind any kind of cover while making sure they can still watch the fight. The town is completely silent as a tumbleweed rolls past. The stakes could not be higher because this is a fight to the death: one man will fall, and the other will decide the fate of the entire town. Moreover, as both fighters are equally matched, it's not clear who will win. The standoff seems to last forever until both fighters blur in a flash of motion, and only one is left standing.
The final showdown is the most iconic part of any Western story. Too bad it's mostly fiction. In reality, gunfights were rarely honorable affairs that aped the formal duels of Europe and colonial America. Instead, most "showdowns" in the Old West involved shooting someone in the back when they weren't looking, ambushing a person with several men, or suddenly pulling out a gun in the middle of a chest-to-chest argument. The slowly unfolding gunfight where everyone has a chance to flee is also a myth: most gun battles were over in 30 seconds or less, including famous shootouts like the gunfight at the OK Corral. Still, it's a striking image: two fighters facing off with only their skill and courage to save them. It is the ultimate distillation of the Western tropes: a stranger or cowboy against a corrupt sheriff or bandit, witnessed by the restless natives out in the harsh and lawless frontier, and the reliable firearm is the ultimate decider. It's not only Old West Westerns that culminate in a showdown, either: Robin Hood has a one-on-one knife fight with the assassin Guy of Gisborne after an archery contest proves both are equally impressive archers, and samurai stories often end with a one-on-one katana fight between master swordsmen. |
Subgenres of Western
|
WESTERN ROMANCEThis subgenre features cowboys falling in love and winning the heart of a damsel, often a schoolmarm and often kidnapped and ransomed by a villainous gunslinger. This subgenre is a mix of plots from the Romance genre with the tropes of the Western and is the most popular Western subgenre. In fact, the first Western novel was a Western romance: 1902's The Virginian by Owen Wister. In the novel, a man with no name comes to Medicine Bow, Wyoming, to escort a wealthy Eastern man to Sunk Creek Ranch so he can experience the life of a cowboy. After the stranger finishes his job and is paid, he must stay longer at the ranch and finds he enjoys the life of a cowboy. He soon becomes the ranch foreman, courts the local schoolmarm, forgives his rival before later shooting him in a showdown, and gets married. Western romances like The Virginian are more about taming the wild frontier than succumbing to its harsh reality.
|
|
WEIRD WESTERNLike Western Romance, this is a blend of genres, specifically Western with Horror, Fantasy, or Science Fiction. Weird Western stories usually involve the dead coming back to life as spirits or zombies (as there are plenty of dead to go around in the Old West); anachronistic steampunk technology; magical native shamans; time travel; and mythical monsters of the Old West like wendigos, skinwalkers, and chupacabras. At its weirdest, Weird Westerns can involve aliens, pocket dimensions, vampires, mutants, and dinosaurs. Though there were short stories blending these genres as early as the 1930s, Weird Westerns became a popular subgenre in the 1970s through DC's Weird Western Tales comic and their most popular character, a Confederate soldier turned bounty hunter named Jonah Hex. During his comics run, Hex encountered an army of skeleton soldiers, defeated an ancient curse, fought a wizard, killed a chthonic tentacle monster, discovered his own corpse stuffed and displayed in a museum, traveled back in time to medieval Europe, met Batman, and became trapped in a post-apocalyptic version of Seattle.
|
|
WESTERN EPICThis blend of Western and Adventure takes the Western story and turns it into a magnificent journey across the rugged American frontier. These stories examine the West as a place of American exceptionalism as good and godly pioneers fought to tame and civilize the land despite brutal attacks by vicious tribes, lawless bandits killing and kidnapping everyone they meet, filthy miners tempting the good settlers with vice and quick riches, and the threat of war (either the Mexican American War or the Civil War) pitting neighbor against neighbor. This brand of Western was popular in the 1940s and 1950s and served as pro-American propaganda. The stories were devoid of the nuance of the Old West and were made to solely focus on American exceptionalism. In film, these were the films of John Huston and John Wayne.
|
|
SPAGHETTI WESTERNThis subgenre is mostly concerned with film, although it does include some literature. Spaghetti Westerns are a reaction against Western Epics by mainly Italian writers and filmmakers, who loved the tropes of the Western Epic but (as Italians) felt no attachment to the messages of American exceptionalism. Inspired by both American Westerns and Japanese samurai films, these writers and directors sought to more accurately examine the cultural diversity and ramifications of lawlessness in the Old West. The most popular of these films was the Dollars Trilogy by director Sergio Leone starring Clint Eastwood: A Fistful of Dollars; For a Few Dollars More; and The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly. While these films were too bloody and scandalous to get approval under the Hays code, they became so popular that they led to the end of the Hays code and the birth of the modern film rating system. Other countries soon started making their own interpretations of the American Western—India had Daicot Westerns, Japan had Ramen Westerns, South America had Gaucho Westerns, and the USSR had Osterns (Easterns). In America, the raw and bloody style of the Spaghetti Western became the Exploitation Western (or Grindhouse Western) of the 1970s.
|
|
REVISIONIST WESTERNLike the creators of the Spaghetti Western, some writers and filmmakers in the 1960s began questioning the moral clarity and pro-America stance of the Western Epic. Instead of making their stories gritty and bloody like the Spaghetti Western, these artists have characters question their use of violence and deconstruct the traditional demonization of Amerindians as "savage." These stories became a subgenre known as Revisionist Western. The earliest Revisionist Western was the 1952 film High Noon, which depicts a retiring marshal struggling with the decision to leave town as planned or fight one last gun battle against a gang of bandits due to arrive in town. When the film premiered, many in Hollywood labeled the film as Communist, and John Wayne thought it was so antithetical to the pro-American Western Epic that he made the film Rio Bravo as a rebuttal. Over time, however, Revisionist Westerns have supplanted Western Epics both in film and literature.
|
|
NEO-WESTERNThese are Westerns that take place in contemporary times and interrogate the value of the Western as an American myth. While Revisionist Westerns still embrace the topes of the Old West, the Neo-Western works to actively subvert them. Neo-Westerns include Western Gothic tales (essentially Southern Gothic but set in an Old West ghost town) and the Narco-Western, which are films set in Mexico where the baron of the oppressed town is a drug-trafficking kingpin. These stories question how "civilized" the modern world really is by challenging modern men and women in the West living in their suburban homes with wifi to face the tough, morally dubious choices of the Old West. Popular Neo-Westerns include No Country for Old Men, Eddington, Breaking Bad, Sicario, Justified, and Yellowstone.
|
|
THE NORTHERNJust as the Western takes place in the West, the Northern takes place in the north—specifically Alaska and Northern Canada. The desert plains are replaced with frigid permafrost, the Amerindians are swapped out for Aleutian and Inuit tribes, Mounties take the place of the calvary, and dogsled replace the horse and covered wagon. In all other aspects, the Western tropes stay intact in a Northern: a stranger makes their way to a frontier outpost looking for rest and supplies and finds a baron with a controlling interest in a mining, timber, or oil company rules the town with an iron fist. While there aren't as many bandits and the romantic settlers are lumberjacks instead of cowboys, the Northern shows that despite an evolution of setting, the frontier-focused Western will endure long into the future.
|
|
FOOTNOTES:
1. So if this genre is as old and widespread as any other, why is it named after the Old West? Genres became defined and tropes codified with the rise of the novel in the 19th century—at the same time, the American West was the most notorious and written-about frontier. So Westerns are Westerns due to conicidental timing. What sets horror apart from mystery is the nature of the involvement of the characters: mysteries draw the characters further into danger, while horror characters do whatever they can to escape the horror. While plenty of horror stories do contain an element of mystery to them (Who is the killer? Why are they doing this? How do we stop the evil rampage?) Characters are driven to solve the mystery unless doing so will free them from the monsters that are threatening them. Mysteries also require a complete and satisfying resolution, while horror stories often leave questions unanswered to increase the reader's fear. Horror is also notably different from crime. While horror victims have awful crimes committed against them (murder, torture, captivity, and so much more), crime stories ask the reader to follow and sympathize with the villain, while horror rarely does this. Imagine someone saying, "That poor Freddy Krueger. If only he could just kill all those teens, then his soul could be at rest"—this sounds ridiculous. Still, crime horrors do exist: a great example is The Silence of the Lambs, where the horrifying cannibal Hannibal Lecter aids agent Clarice Starling in catching the equally horrifying serial killer Buffalo Bill. 2. According to literary theorist Noel Carroll, a monster is an unnatural creature, nonhuman or not entirely human, that constitutes a threat to the protagonist. Chewbacca, for example, is not a monster because he is not a threat to the protagonists. 3. No, I didn't forget about King Kong—he's the granddaddy of horror monsters. However, Kong is of a different era and represents the fear of undiscovered threats lurking in foreign lands. While relevant in the 1930s (only two-and-a-half decades after the invention of the airplane), this isn't a prevalent fear for modern audiences, which is why he's become a heroic character and defender of humanity in the 21st-century Monsterverse franchise. Meanwhile, Godzilla remains a monster who fights other monsters not to defend humanity but for self-preservation. 4. A 2022 survey published in the International Journal of Mental Health and Addiction found that 53.5% of adults have some degree of fear of clowns. Interestingly, women are more likely than men to fear clowns, and fear of clowns starts to fade with age, which isn't true of other irrational fears. 5. Why? That can get complicated. Some monsters like Freddy Kruger and Candyman are out for revenge against a society that did them wrong and made them into a monster. Others, like the titular creatures in The Blob and Alien, kill to survive like any creature in the animal kingdom (though they kill so sadistically they still come off as evil). Slasher monsters have lots of different motivations: Norman Bates killed out of jealousy, Patrick Bateman killed out of boredom, and Jason killed because teenagers kept trespassing onto his land. Some monsters don't even need a reason to kill: Michael Myers kills babysitters because he likes to kill babysitters. 6. See the article on Affliction Theory 7. This is complicated by the idea that "sinful" behavior is a judgment by society, and societies change over time. For example, a common practice in '80s and '90s horror was "kill your gays:" if a horror movie had a character that was part of the LGBTQ+ community, they either die for their "sinful" sexual identity or are the monster (e.g., Angela in Sleepaway Camp is a monster because she's a boy that was forced to act like a girl by her crazy aunt). These decisions don't stand up to modern ethical scrutiny but, when put into the context of society when they were created, do properly follow the tropes of horror. 8. At least that's the story logic of why the monster doesn't always die at the end. The more practical answer is that there can't be any sequels if the monster is dead and gone forever. This also explains why death is very seldom permanent for horror villains. 9. Yes, there were Sue Snell, Tommy Ross, and Miss Desjardin, and Carrie doesn't hurt them. But at that point in the novel, Tommy is dead, Miss Desjardin just happened to survive after Carrie psychically threw her against a brick wall, and Carrie only spares Sue after she reads Sue's mind and is too weak to hurt Sue anyway. So my point stands. 10. This doesn't mean the monsters can't ever act like people in a creature feature: both The Thing and the queen alien from The Faculty masquerade as human (the Outpost 31 staff and Marybeth Louise Hutchinson, respectively) but shed their human forms and become horrifying creatures. 11. See this article on the Victorian literary movement |
FURTHER READING:
WORKS REFERENCED: |
Article was last updated on 22 March 2026.