Democracy_And_Violence

Democracy And Violence In the movie The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, John Marini attempts to recreate conditions necessary for the emergence of a democratic regime. He does this by having a western cowboy setting, in a territory that has not yet become a state. It’s in a town called Shinbone where the ideas of democracy do not exist. In this lawless area the only way people can protect themselves and their possessions is with a gun. Government has no chance in this place without forcing the opposing side to listen and accept it. Death and injury have to occur to turn a place into a democracy. Force is also sometimse necessary to keep democracy in place, as shown in Walter Van Tilburg Clark’s book The Ox-Bow Incident. Both are examples illustrating that violence is sometimes necessary to establish and maintain a democracy. The situation in The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance is there is a decision the people of Shinbone and the surrounding area have to make. Should they become a state or stay as an open range. The open range supporters are mainly big ranchers, bandits, and rustlers. The big ranchers need it valance, people, man, democracy, town, law, way, stoddard, shinbone, sheriff, posse, place, take, out, option, men, make, liberty, justice, gun, davies, after, without, violence, true, state, situation, side, scared, range, person, opposing, open, necessary, keep