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Tombstone · Theme
The Wilderness and Civilization
How Tombstone develops The Wilderness and Civilization.
The book contrasts the harsh, untamed desert landscape—home to Apaches and outlaws—with the emerging civilization of Tombstone, which brought schools, churches, and refined entertainments, highlighting the precarious coexistence of savagery and order on the frontier.
Where it surfaces
- I: Hills of Silver
Schieffelin's journey from wilderness scout to wealthy city dweller and back to the wilderness highlights the tension between civilized comforts and the call of the wild.
- Patchy
Patchy's life embodies the clash between Apache wildness and the civilizing efforts of the Slaughter family, culminating in the unresolved question of heredity versus environment.