The Ox-Bow Incident in Never too Late to Read Classics

Jan 03, 2023 Sara rated it it was amazing

Shelves: classics, western, historical-fiction, literary-fiction, american-west, morality-play

Most men are more afraid of being thought cowards than of anything else, and a lot more afraid of being thought physical cowards than moral ones.

Let me say that this book will wrench your soul right out of you, and mainly because you fear deep within yourself that you would not have the courage to stand against the mob and stop a miscarriage of justice, that you would be too afraid to be the voice in the wilderness, that you might be more afraid for your own skin than worried for the preservati Most men are more afraid of being thought cowards than of anything else, and a lot more afraid of being thought physical cowards than moral ones.

Let me say that this book will wrench your soul right out of you, and mainly because you fear deep within yourself that you would not have the courage to stand against the mob and stop a miscarriage of justice, that you would be too afraid to be the voice in the wilderness, that you might be more afraid for your own skin than worried for the preservation of a principle that matters more than all of us.

This is a western, set in the days of cowboys and posses, but it is not really that. It is a diatribe on the frailties of human beings, their ability to be manipulated by stronger, bullying voices. It is about the inability to choose the moral high ground when the mob is against you. It is about being the mob, being swept away by group frenzy.

I'm slow with a new idea, and want to think it over alone, where I'm sure it's the idea and not the man that's getting me.

But, very few do think about this idea, most of them are just following the man, buying the rhetoric, swimming in the illusion of power. Sadly, this group of men is going to be living for a lifetime with the decision of a moment.

Along with the moral lesson which you cannot escape in this book, you are treated to some of the most vivid descriptive passages I have ever come across in literature. I knew both the physical makeup and the moral character of every single person Clark depicts in the story. I felt the wind and the snow and the tightness of the pass. I felt the grip in my throat and my chest as the moment of truth grew closer and closer.

Every moral premise is presented in such a way that it never feels like preaching or like it is existing outside the context of the story. The moral dilemma is the fabric around which the story is woven, but the story exists in the outside, wider world, as much as in the moment of this occurrence.

"If we go out and hang two or three men, without doing what the law says, forming a posse and bringing the men for trial, then by the same law, we're not officers of justice, but due to be hanged ourselves."
"And who will hang us?" Winder wanted to know.
"Maybe nobody." Davies admitted. "Then our crime's worse than a murderer's. His act puts him outside the law, but keeps the law intact. Ours would weaken the law."

A great beginning to a new year.
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Jan 11, 2023 Shirley (stampartiste) rated it really liked it

Shelves: read-classics, published-1900-1999, to-read-in-2023

This was such a disturbing story. This western took place in Nevada in 1885, but it could have happened anywhere at any time. Clark slowly and methodically introduced the reader to various citizens of Bridgers Wells, a small town where most citizens knew one another. A cowboy gallops into town one day and reports that another incidence of cattle rustling has taken place and a man has been shot dead. Based on this man’s word, men (and one woman) from that town are roused to go after the rustlers/ ...more

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Aug 06, 2018 Jim Townsend rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Great, classic western about the morality of vigilante justice, concerning a murder and cattle rustling, and the question of whether the law or posse justice is the way to go.

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Mar 13, 2022 Natalie rated it really liked it

Shelves: classics

This book has a fairly simple plot but instead has quite a few characters and a lot of dialogue. Each character is well described and distinct from the others but it got a little tricky keeping track of them all.
The story is of a group who go hunting for some men who killed three cattle hands. The group finds some men and without much evidence, exact justice just a few hours later. The narrator, Art Croft and a few others are hesitant to accuse the men (who vehemently declare their innocence) bu ...more

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Nov 24, 2025 Susan rated it it was amazing

Do your self a favor and start a list of characters from page 1 . Each character presents a different approach to the story/situation of the missing cattle that is the impetus of the men and women either coming with the posse or not. That being said this is a timeless interpretation of the motives of mankind. Hence the reason for the many characters, whose motives and prejudices come to light thru situations and dialogue. Should be required reading !

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