Nate-The+Ox-Bow+Incident

 The Ox-Bow Incident By: Walter Van Tilburg Clark Walter Van Tilburg Clark (1909-1971) Walter Van Tilburg Clark was born in 1909 in East Orland, Maine. His parents were Walter Ernest and Euphemia Abrams Clark. His family moved to New York when he was young, and then again to Reno, Nevada when he was eight years old. He was among some of the first Western American writers to be nationally well known. Clark recieved a master's and baccalaureate degree from the University of Nevada, and another master's for teaching assistant from the University of Vermont. He got married in 1933, and then began teaching high school English in New York. This is when Clark first started to write short stories and got national recognition. In 1940 he got his first novel published titled __The Ox-Bow Incident__ which got good reviews. The book describes how a group of men become a posse and then become a lynch mob after hearing that a local rancher was killed. __The Ox-Bow Incident__ was then turned into a movie that starred Henry Fonda. For the rest of his life Clark traveled the United States writing books and occasionally teaching. His wife Barbara died in 1969, but he kept teacing, writing, and lecturing. In January of 1971 Clark was diagnosed with cancer and died on November 10, 1971. He was laid to rest next to his wife Barbara in Virginia City, Nevada.

** Plot synopsis **The book __The Ox-Bow Incident__ is a story of how a group of men become a posse and then a [|lynch mob] after hearing that a local rancher was killed. The story is based around two men, Art Croft and Gil Carter who are cattle drivers. They go into the town of Bridger's Wells and go to a saloon. Croft wonders about the men coming into the saloon, "I thought they looked at Gil and me curiously and longer..." (Clark 17). Later on a young man comes into the saloon named Greene, he is talking wildly about how a rancher named Kinkaid was murdered. Kinkaid was a good friend of a man named Farnley who Gil had just gotten into a bar fight with. Immediately after hearing of his friends death Farnley gets set to go off and try to find the killers, but is convinced to wait for more people to get ready. Not everyone agrees with Farnley though, as the minister of a local church Osgood and another man by the name of Davies think they should talk to Judge Tyler and Deputy Risley to make the posse legal. In the end the group is not legalized and Gil and Croft go along to see what happens even though they think justice will not be served right. Among the group is Major Tetley and Gerald who is his son, but the two are complete opposites. A storm was coming upon the mob of 28 men, but Major Tetley informed the men that they will keep going. Then when it is completely dark out they come upon a [|stagecoach], which has Gil's former "girlfriend" Rose Mapen on it. In the whole commotion of the stagecoach coming up Croft is accidentally shot, "I was hit in the shoulder, so unexpectedly it nearly drove me out of the saddle" (Clark 137). Later on the group comes upon the Ox-Bow canyon, and they see a fire burning.

Four groups are formed to try and surround the men at the fire, but when they get there it looks like all three of the men are sleeping. The three men are awoken and are stripped of their guns, the first man is named "Mex", the next is an old man and the final man is named Martin. Croft then talks to Martin, "This is no stickup, brother. I explained to him. This is a posse, if that means anything to you" (Clark 162). Martin tries to explain to the mob that him and the two others have some of Kinkaid's cattle because they made a sale with him earlier, but had not recieved a bill because it was going to be mailed to him. This makes the group question the three men.

Are the three men Kinkaids killers? Will the three men live? Will the three men die? What are Deputy Risley and Judge Tyler going to say when the men get back? Do the three men get a fair trial? What happens to Gil and Croft? To find out read __The Ox-Bow Incident__ by Walter Van Tilburg Clark.

__The Ox-Bow Incident__ was a really good book and I would read it again. What worked was the fact that Clark described everything in depth and told a lot of details throughout the whole book. What also worked was the plot of the story, the book really makes you think a lot. Another thing that worked was the array of characters he had in the story such as the town drunk, the normal guys, and the guys who want to take the law into their own hands. These are just a few of the characters that Clark puts into the book. The final thing that worked was how he talks about justice and what can happen when people are in a group. He really goes into depth about what happens when people are in a group versus by themselves. Clark also puts justice into the book and who is to decide what justice is. For instance, towards the beginning of the book he puts in a conversation between two characters about justice and what has to be done for justice to be served. With all of these things wrapped into the book it really make this book a timeless classic.
 * What worked?**

There were only a few things that I did not like about __The Ox-Bow Incident__. The first is the characters, there were so many characters that it was hard to remember which character was which and what that person believed. The second complaint that I had was that the book got a little boring at parts and would drag on during some scenes. Finally, I thought that the book seemed a little long because some of the parts were dragged on.
 * What didn't?**

__The Ox-Bow Incident__ would be classified as a western, as it takes place in the 1880's. The whole story takes place in Nevada. It follows two cowboys and raises the question of what is criminal justice, and who decides what criminal justice is. __The Ox-Bow Incident__ was a very popular book for the western genre as it was wrote in the 1940's when Nazi Germany was taking over in Europe. Most people would think that it is a shootout type of book with cowboys going around fighting people, but it is not as it really makes the reader stop and think. The book got good reviews for the most part and is truly a great read.
 * Literary Information**

Callahan, John F. "About Lynching". __Modern American Poetry__. 1997. 26 March 2009. []
 * Works Citied**

Kich, Martin. "Walter Van Tilburg Clark". __The Literary Encyclopedia__. 17 October 2003. 9 March 2009. []

Mitchell, Millie. "Walter Van Tilburg Clark, Nevada Writers Hall of Fame 1988". __Friends of the University Library__. 21 July 2008. 9 March 2009. []

Torp, Kim. "Stagecoach History". __Geneology Trails__. 2006. 25 March 2009. []

Zangrando, Robert L. "About Lynching". __Modern American Poetry__. 1991. 26 March 2009. []

Zumoff, Bree. "Walter Van Tilburg Clark". 26 January 2009. 9 March 2009. []