Tombstone · Question
How does Tombstone develop the theme of Violence and Death?
Answer
Tombstone by Walter Noble Burns develops Violence and Death across the chapters the companion marks for this theme.
Violence is a constant presence, from Apache raids and the Earp-Clanton feud to lynchings and assassinations, with death often portrayed as sudden, brutal, and a routine part of frontier life, as seen in the OK Corral shootout and the lynching of John Heath.
The chapter opens with vivid descriptions of Apache ambushes, murders, and massacres, setting a tone of constant danger.
Violence is a constant undercurrent, from Doc Holliday's deadly skills to the feud with Behan, and the threat of lynching and stage robberies.
The chapter opens with a cold-blooded murder and escalates to the brink of a massacre, with Earp threatening deadly force to prevent a lynching.
Evidence in the book
- I: Hills of Silver
The chapter opens with vivid descriptions of Apache ambushes, murders, and massacres, setting a tone of constant danger.
- III: Glad Hand and Trigger Finger
Violence is a constant undercurrent, from Doc Holliday's deadly skills to the feud with Behan, and the threat of lynching and stage robberies.
- IV: Wyatt Earp Plays a Lone Hand
The chapter opens with a cold-blooded murder and escalates to the brink of a massacre, with Earp threatening deadly force to prevent a lynching.
- Curly Bill
Violence is central: Marshal White is killed, Dick Lloyd is shot to death as a 'joke,' and Curly Bill's career is built on routine murder and cattle rustling.
- The Affair of Skeleton Canyon
The chapter graphically describes the murder of nineteen Mexican smugglers, the aftermath of unburied bones, and the haunting silence of the canyon.
- VIII: The Old Man with a Beard
The chapter centers on the brutal ambush and killing of Old Man Clanton and his men, as well as the Skeleton Canyon massacre, highlighting the pervasive violence on the border.
- IX: Ringo
The chapter centers on Ringo's willingness to die in a duel, his past killings, and the constant threat of violence in Tombstone.
- X: Russian Bill's Little Drama
The chapter features a staged murder at the Bird Cage Theatre that shocks the audience, as well as Buckskin Frank Leslie's casual use of firearms to create art, reflecting the normalization of violence.
