The Great American Western: American Mythology in True Grit

The Western is a genre that I think many would consider being strongly ‘American’. The mythology of the ‘Old West’ and what goes on there is all highly glorified in our culture. We all get excited about shootouts at high noon, cowboy and Indian chases, and many other stereotypical events of the genre because the whole tome and message of these kinds of texts touches upon what many feel is a sense of American identity.

Western expansion, overcoming the rugged terrain and “vicious natives”, and fulfilling our manifest destiny was the main goal of the time periods that Westerns portray. During those times, we thought what we were doing as a nation was not only necessary, but our divine right to so. As a result, there is a glorification and a glossing over of the more grizzly details of western expansion. We see gunfights and exciting chases but gloss over how Americans, in many cases, were the bad guys who forced people off of their land, destroyed that land, and killed many of our native animals (specifically American buffalo). But great Western texts aren’t about any of that. They’re usually about revenge and violence and getting “what we deserve”.

This is where True Grit comes in. True Grit fits perfectly into the mythology of Western texts. It glorifies men with “true grit” who are rough and tumble and who don’t always follow the rules; who are good with a gun but not with manners. This character, obviously, is Rooster Cogburn. We know Rooster isn’t a ‘good guy’, he’s self-interested and a drunkard, but still we see him as the hero. He is pardoned of all the bad things he does because he is a man of “true grit” and it’s men like him that “win the west” and that will help Mattie attain her goal. Mattie’s goal fits into the whole idea of getting revenge and achieving what she thinks she deserves (the opportunity to kill the man who shot her father).

When it comes to great western characters, they all tend to be very similar. The fact that every major western hero was played by John Wayne is probably a testament to this. John Wayne is Rooster Cogburn in the 1969 film version of True Grit, and the fact that he is played by John Wayne adds to the whole infallible, mystical quality of this rough and tough western man. It’s ‘American’ to us because this is how we saw ourselves during the time of western expansion. Even though we know better now, there is still this rose-tinted way we look back on manifest destiny and western expansion and all things having to do with it.  

Western texts are truly part of the American mythos. They show how we viewed ourselves during the time of western expansion and there are still many people who subscribe to the ideals portrayed in these texts. Guns are given a lot of importance; being able to fire one is a sign of a true western man. Now we look at guns much less favorably, but there are many who defend their usage for many different reasons, but I do think in some respects some of this defense might come from the glorifying of them in this very ‘American’ genre. The right to bare arms is an ‘American right’ and westerns are all about exercising that right. Westerns and their values are incredibly problematic, or at the very least, archaic. Many recognize the dated factor to these values but still look on these texts with favor because it speaks to the ‘inner Patriot’ on some level. Westerns are undoubtedly a major part of the American mythology.