Tombstone · Question
How does Tombstone develop the theme of Frontier Mythology and Legend?
Answer
Tombstone by Walter Noble Burns develops Frontier Mythology and Legend across the chapters the companion marks for this theme.
The narrative emphasizes how Tombstone's history has been transformed into myth, with figures like the Earps, Clantons, and John Ringo becoming larger-than-life characters, and the book itself draws on newspapers, testimonies, and oral traditions to both document and romanticize the past.
The boy's ghostly vigil and the legend of the 'Old Man with a Beard' contribute to the mythic quality of border vengeance and outlaw lore.
Ringo is mythologized as a tragic, Hamlet-like figure, embodying the romanticized outlaw of the Old West.
The Davis Mountain treasure story is a classic frontier legend, blending outlaw exploits, hidden riches, and a mysterious map, akin to the Cocos Island myth.
Evidence in the book
- VIII: The Old Man with a Beard
The boy's ghostly vigil and the legend of the 'Old Man with a Beard' contribute to the mythic quality of border vengeance and outlaw lore.
- IX: Ringo
Ringo is mythologized as a tragic, Hamlet-like figure, embodying the romanticized outlaw of the Old West.
- Buried Treasure
The Davis Mountain treasure story is a classic frontier legend, blending outlaw exploits, hidden riches, and a mysterious map, akin to the Cocos Island myth.
- Patchy
Patchy's story takes on mythic qualities—the silent Apache baby, the mysterious election-poster dress, the treasure vault of the padres, and the haunting question of what she might have become.
