Owen Wister’s book The Virginian examines the moral and ethical codes of people from different stations or classes in a country that is growing and expanding and set during the time of the expansion westward. THESIS: It is through the examples of situations that reveals the principles and ethics that each character has and how they maintain their own moral standard when faced with difficult and unfortunate circumstances, essentially the fight between good and evil.
1. The character of the tenderfoot is judgemental from the perspective that what he knows is based on prior experience.
A. When he first meets the Virginian he misjudges him and comes to realize during the first dinner and night of the patience and tolerance of the Virginian as he accepts the situation of no bed and variety of personalities and how he studies each one in order to get what he wants.
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B. With each event and variety of circumstances, the tenderfoot learns to re-evaluate his judgment of people. Traveling with the Virginian, and the crew, it is a different world of wildness in the west, however, he evaluates the steadiness and moral principles of the Virginian and learns to read the person and not just accept the cover they portray.
C. The impact of his journey and travels has affected him when he notes at the end of his journey and returns to the east that he will never forget Shorty or Scipio. It was the events and the personality and characteristics of the Virginian that showed he was wrong to just judge him as a cowboy as illustrated by the Virginian’s acceptance by the eastern Mrs. Wood when she noted he was gentle, indeed a very gentle man.
2. The character of the Virginian is one of tenacious patience living by his own moral code.
A. One example about patience is the effort it took for his first letter to Molly, how he wanted it to be just right and convey his intentions. He is willing to travel so long to see her, even if it is only for one hour, and he will not give up.
B. When it comes to the showdown between the Virginian and Trampas, the Virginian tried to avoid it for Molly, however, he had the tenacity and strength to realize that he had to live with his moral code, of not being a coward, or not live at all. This is a most difficult predicament because sometimes it is a choice between love and morals and not that he wanted to give up on love but had to maintain his principles.
C. He understood the personality of Trampas and kept him as part of the crew. Like the cliche keep your friends close and enemies closer. The Virginian understood by keeping Trampas with them he could prevent harm, as he explains to Scipio about why Trampas is still with them.
3. The character of Trampas shows one who is dishonest, dishonorable, and unwilling to change.
A. When Molly and Mrs. Taylor tend to a sick Virginian Molly learns of the lies told by Trampas and how he spoke so disrespectfully about her, to taunt and anger the Virginian. It shows the immoral nature of Trampas to understand the vulnerability of men and how to make them angry.
B. The just plain bad but insightful nature of Trampas is shown through his stealing, causing problems with the killing of the cow, and the manipulating of young impressionable Shorty’s views and engineer him into being an accomplice to stealing.
C. When faced with opportunities of honest work and people he does not try to change, he maintains his dishonest and immoral life. He is unwilling to change because in his mind he is right and stubbornly sticks to this view until it ultimately leads to his own death.
To conclude, the characters in this book display characteristics common in life, people are sometimes quick to judge a person merely by how they look, when it is important to learn to know a person. The Virginian is a moral and principled individual and the opposite is Tampas demonstrating the moral difference between good and bad, with good winning in the end. What is important is that the story shows the ethical differences in the characters by the circumstances they face and the decisions they make and how this guides the life that they live.
Assignment B
Owen Wister’s book The Virginian examines the moral and ethical codes of people from different stations or classes in a country that is growing and expanding and set during the time of the expansion westward. It is through the examples of situations that reveals the principles and ethics that each character has and how they maintain their own moral standard when faced with difficult and unfortunate circumstances, essentially the fight between good and evil.
The conflict between good and evil is represented in the conflict between the Virginian and Trampas and the events between them that show the moral and ethical principles of the Virginian, and the lack of morals and ethics as shown in the character of Tampas. The journey of the tenderfoot going west is also the journey of life and the choices that each character makes depending upon their own personal moral principles. The underlying theme is the message and the moral lesson that good will win over evil. As their personalities are different from each other this is a simple way of revealing the differences between good and bad, honesty and duplicity, nice and nasty. The climax is the culmination of all the difficulties between the two and it is in the final confrontation between the Virginian and Trampas that good reigns over evil the Virginian prevail over Trampas. It is a direct showdown between the two, once again it is the simplicity of the situation that reveals the lesson. The resolution is an end, the end of Trampas through his death and the happy ending for the Virginian as he marries his beloved Molly, is accepted by her eastern family, and they return to live out their lives in the west in prosperity both financially and personally as represented in their happy home life with children and their future together.
