The Ox-Bow Incident

The Author: Walter Van Tilburg Clark

• spent most of his childhood in Nevada, also the setting of this novel
• wrote many poems and short stories, such as: "Hook", "The Portable Phonograph", "The Ascent of Ariel Goodbody", "The Buck in the Hills", and "The Wind and the Snow of Winter"

The Author: Walter Van Tilburg Clark

• first volume of poetry was Ten Women in Gale's House and Shorter Poems, published in 1932 with the help of his father
• greatest achievement and greatest contribution to American writing was his novel published in 1949, The Track of the Cat

Summary

• Two men, Gil and Art, are regular traveler's in Bridger's Well's
• A townsmen, Greene, claims Kinkaid has been killed, and a posse begins to form to hunt down the murderer(s)
• Though many would like to leave for the hunt quickly, some also plea that the posse waits for figures of authority to make a decision

Summary

• Art goes to fetch the Sheriff, however he is not there. Therefore, the posse leaves without any figures of authority, with Farnley and Tetley leading
• The hunt begins, with the posse intending to hang three men that were seen near the murder

Summary

• The duration of the hunt was making it to the summit of the mountain, and three men were found at a clearing called the Ox-Bow
• These three men, later revealed to be innocent, were hung on minimal and unstable evidence

Summary

• The novel was concluded with the Judge and the Sheriff covering up this atrocity, and Davies making confessions to Art

Theme: Justice

• Justice, though sometimes it is necessary to be taken into our own hands, is very opinionated and cannot be regularly dealt by the people.
• Throughout the novel, this theme progresses from something that's too much for one man too handle, to a very opinionated argument, with differing views

Theme: Justice

• "'It's seein' that everybody gets what's comin' to him, that's what it is {justice}'...'But according to whom?'"(61)
• "'But how do we decide?'...'Decide what?'...'Who's got what coming to him?'"(62)

Theme: Justice

• "'A sin against society...True law, the code of justice, the essence of our sensations of right and wrong, is the conscience of society...The true law is something in itself; it is the spirit of the moral nature of man,'"(64-65)

Textual Analysis

• The words have a connotative significance in which they bring about a subject of morality, an underlying theme in the novel
• The words suggest that justice is impacted directly by one's morals and they give the quote a loud and meaningful tone

Theme: power

• Power is very potent and it is what drives us to do things we would not normally do and it affects our actions and decisions.
• During the story, it is depicted that power is the driving force behind many of the characters' actions

Theme: power

• "'All any of us really want any more is power. We'd buck the pack if we dared. We don't, so we use it; we trick it to help us in our own little killings,'"(141).
• "'You're getting the trial,' Tetley said,'with twenty-eight of the only judges a murderer and a rustler gets in what you call this God-forsaken country,"'(217).

Theme: Power

• "'I had everything, justice, pity, even the backing-and I knew it-and I let those three men hang because I was afraid,'"(301).

how the themes interact

• Share development throughout the story
• One's beliefs on justice may not be expressed due to a lack of power, or may be overly expressed due to one's thirst for power
• Power may sometimes control our thoughts and actions regarding justice

Timeline of American Writing

• Published in 1940, directly before the U.S. entrance into WWII

American identity

• person who asserts justice and has strong, influential power
• also has strong morals that guide them throughout their life.