Walter Van Tilburg Clark's novel The Ox-Bow Incident is a Western that still deserves to be read today.

A Classic Western

In 1940, Walter Van Tilburg Clark published his first novel, The Ox-Bow Incident. It is a western in the most direct sense, it takes place in the west, its characters are typical of the cowboy era, and the subject matter is classically western. In other words, it fits the classic formula for western fiction.

When the 217 page novel was published, it was immediately proclaimed a masterpiece and a work of art. In other words, it was seen as a classic piece of literature.

A New Style of Western

While the novel fulfilled nearly all the expectations of a Western novel, it puzzled readers as well. Some considered it a spare western or a new style of western. There was no hero riding in to save the day. The descriptions were direct and forceful as were the characters. Clark did not waste his words. Reviewer Ben Ray Redman wrote that it was “A sinewy, masculine tale that progressively tightens its grip on the reader.”

Where the Novel Fits Today

Very few people read westerns today. The genre seems tired and doesn’t seem relevant to modern society. As a result, it would be easy to relegate it to a stack of escapist novels suitable only for those lowbrow enough to be interested in stereotypical western novels. However, this would be a mistake.

Clark uses the standard formula for a western including, cowboys, saloons, guns, gambling, and death to raise an important issue. People are easily influenced. Give the people a leader and they will act against their best judgment and murder in the name of a justice, which in their heart, they are unsure that it is true justice.

While using recognizable forms, Clark pulled his readers into a deeper story that pushes them to consider the roles of justice, human fallibility, and vengeance. Clark’s contemporaries saw a parallel or even a allegory of what was going on in Nazi Germany. Clark said that this is not what he intended. He intended to make a point much closer to home. He said that what he intended people to realize is that “It can happen here. It has happened here, in minor but sufficiently indicative ways, a great many times.”

Happily we still recognize the forms of a Western, yet the Western mindset and approach to life is alien enough to people living in the 21st century that Clark’s message is much more forceful. We believe we are more civilized today. However, reading Clark’s novel will force the reader to realize we are not. Every reader who is honest with himself will be able to identify with at least one member of the mob that imposed vigilante justice on innocent men.

Clark, Walter Van Tilburg. The Ox-Bow Incident. Signet, 1940.