Matheson-C. Phelps

Sue Matheson's article, "The West-Hardboiled...", points out the contradictory role of the Hero or Heroes in John Wayne's Westerns. The morals and values held by the characters in his Westerns are individualistic and self-centered. Some of their actions can be as cruel and disgusting as the villains. She describes one character as having "carried out a number of criminal acts without remorse-among them, trespassing, theft, assault and battery, and manslaughter"(ProQuest, 5). This character and many like him are supposed to be the "moral center." Matheson challenges the idea that "The Cowboy", as depicted by John Wayne, should be the ideal model of an American (or any) man.