There is plenty of irony in these changes. At the
end of the trip, the pretentious, overbearing Gate-
wood becomes the prisoner, while Ringo—who is
guarded by the marshal and feared by some of the
passengers because he is an escaped convict—
becomes the hero. Dallas’s compassion takes prece-
dence over Lucy’s cold, haughty manner, and so on.
Scope
The story’s overall range in time and place is broad,
extending from early events—Dallas orphaned by
an Indian massacre and the comparatively more
pleasant childhood that Lucy enjoyed in Virginia—
to those we see on-screen. And although we look
essentially at the events on the two days that it
takes the stagecoach to go from Tonto to Lords-
burg, we are also aware of the larger scope of
American history, particularly the westward move-
ment, Ford’s favorite subject. Made right before the
start of World War II in Europe, Stagecoachpres-
ents a historical, social, and mythical vision of
American civilization in the 1880s. Ford looked
back at the movement west because he saw that
period as characterized by clear, simple virtues and
values. He viewed the pioneers as establishing the
traditions for which Americans would soon be
fighting: freedom, democracy, justice, and individu-
alism.
One of the social themes of the movie is manifest
destiny, a term used by conservative nationalists to
explain that the territorial expansion of the United
States was not only inevitable, but also ordained by
God. In that effort, embodied in the westward
movement, the struggle to expand would be waged
against the Native Americans. In his handling of
the story, Ford strives to make a realistic depiction
of settlers’ life in a frontier town and the dangers
awaiting them in the wilderness. Although scholars
differ in interpreting the politics of Ford’s vision,
particularly as it relates to his depictions of whites
and Native Americans (depictions that vary
throughout his many movies), here his Apaches,
just like the white men, are both noble (in their
struggle) and savage (in war). Whether this partic-
ular story actually happened is not the point. As we
understand American history, it could have hap-
pened. Ford accurately depicts the Apaches as well
as the settlers—the stakes are high for each
group—and though the cavalry rather theatrically
arrives to save the stagecoach party, both sides suf-
fer casualties and neither side “wins.” In fact,
Ringo’s heroism during the Indian attack permits
the stagecoach party to reach Lordsburg safely and
earns him the freedom to avenge the deaths of his
father and brother. That, of course, is one of the
movie’s personal themes: Ringo’s revenge.
However, Ford sees many sad elements in the
westward expansion: the displacement of the
Native Americans, the migration of discriminatory
social patterns from the East and South to the
West, the establishment of uncivilized towns, and
the dissolution of moral character among the set-
tlers. These issues are related to the setting in
which the story takes place. Here and in his other
Westerns, Ford created his own vision of how the
West was won. Most critics recognize that this
vision is part real and part mythical, combining as
it does the retelling of actual incidents with a
strong overlay of Ford’s ideas on how people
behaved (or should have behaved).
One of Ford’s persistent beliefs is that civiliza-
tion occurs as a result of a genuine community
built—in the wilderness—through heroism and
shared values. In Ford’s overall vision, American
heroes are always fighting for their rights, whether
the fight is against the British, the Native Ameri-
cans, or the fascists. Precisely because the beauty
of Monument Valley means so many different
things to different people, it becomes a symbol of
the many outcomes that can result from explo-
ration, settlement, and the inevitable territorial
disputes that follow. But there seems little doubt
that Ford himself is speaking (through Dr. Boone)
at the end of the film. As Ringo and Dallas ride off
to freedom across the border, Dr. Boone utters the
ironic observation, “Well, they’re saved from the
blessings of civilization.”
Dr. Boone’s “civilization” includes the hypocriti-
cal ladies of Tonto, who force him and Dallas to flee
the town; the banker, Gatewood, who pontificates
about the importance of banks—“What’s good for
the banks is good for the country”—while embez-
zling $50,000 from a payroll meant for miners; and166 CHAPTER 4 ELEMENTS OF NARRATIVE