The Shootist (Glendon Swarthout)

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1. What is the genre?

Global—Western > Professional

Secondary—Status

2. What are the conventions and obligatory scenes for the genre?

Conventions

The hash, hostile wide-open landscape is a ‘character”. Books passes through the wide-open spaces on his way to El Paso. Later, he and Bond Rogers go for a ride in an open carriage. They leave El Paso (Bond’s environment) and drive out past farmlands into the brushland near the Rio Grande, the open space that represents Books and the fast-fading days of the Old West.

Hero, victim, Villain roles clearly defined through the story. Books is both Hero and Victim. He’s an anti-hero, an outlawed gunfighter who has come to the end of his days with mixed regret and pride. Cancer is his main adversary and Villain, seemingly unbeatable. When he kills four lesser Villains in his final shootout, Books thwarts death by cancer to die by his own terms. Bond Rogers also plays the role of Victim, unable to stop her own son’s slide toward villainy.

Hero’s object of desire is to stop the villain and save the victim. Bond represents societal order threatened by the old ways of outlawry. In his final act, Books protects her from that. By his actions, he acknowledges that the world he knew has changed and recognizes the value of civil order even though he not been a part of it.

Hero operates outside the law (selectively or as a matter of course). The protagonist is a notorious gunfighter who has lived much of his life outside the law. He has killed all the reputation seekers who have come after him. Despite his significant kill list, Books feels that he has been “forced” to kill or be killed through the actions of others rather than of his own bloodlust.

The power divide between the hero and villain is very large with the villain being far more powerful than the hero. Books has a fatal cancer that cannot be cured.

Speech in praise of the villain. The doctor describes in detail the inevitable and gruesome death in store for him.

Obligatory Scenes

Inciting attack by the villain: The novel opens as Books rides uncomfortably toward El Paso, seeking a doctor to diagnose his unexplained pain. Although we are unaware of the particulars, Books has been stricken by a fatal cancer. Along the way, he is accosted by a would-be bandit. Books distracts the thief by tossing his wallet, then shoots the old man in the belly and leaves him for dead in a scene that echoes the circumstances that first drew him into a life of gunfighting.

Hero sidesteps responsibility to take action: When Doc Hostetler describes the progression of Books’ cancer, he tells the gunman he would not willingly undergo such a death himself had he Books’ skill with guns. Books is not ready to do himself in but vows that when he goes, he’ll be damned if he goes out screaming.

Forced to leave the ordinary world, the hero lashes out. Word gets out that a famous gunfighter is at the widow Bond Roger’s boarding house. A local reporter proposes taking down Books’ story, cashing in on the gunslinger’s reputation to make money. Angered by the proposal, the sensationalizing of his life, and the fact that he can no longer die in peace, Books marches the reporter out of the boarding house, gun barrel shoved into the man’s mouth, and boots him off the porch.

Although he’s taking his anger out on the reporter, Books is lashing out at the inevitability of his own death. Until now, he’s been the alpha male, made decisions about how he lived his life, and took orders from no one. That personal control and power is over. Not only is Books dying with nothing to be done about it, the town of El Paso has changed drastically since his last visit. The Old West is fading, and he is a part of the lawless world that is passing away.

Discovering and understanding the MacGuffin. Books’ greatest adversary is the cancer that is eating away at him; it is implacable, inevitable and impersonal. As such, it has no MacGuffin. Death will have its way, eventually, regardless of Books’ actions.

However, there are human villains prowling the story as well. Once word gets out that Books is in town, the shady denizens of El Paso creep out to capitalize on his presence. In this world, J.B. Books is one of the most notorious of all gunfighters, with a reputation akin to that of Bill Hickock. The man who shoots and kills him will acquire fame and a dangerous reputation. Several villains set their sights on gunning him down. Books takes advantage of that to achieve his own ends. Reputation serves as a secondary MacGuffin.

Hero’s initial strategy to outmaneuver the villain fails. When Books arrived in town and learned of his condition, he hoped to spend his last days quietly. Responding to a call from the landlady, Deputy Thibideau confronts Books at the boarding house and fearfully demands that the gunman leave. Books refuses and is forced to reveal the reason why. He asks Thibideau not to speak of it, but the deputy holds the secret like a sieve holds water. The news spreads throughout El Paso, leading to a parade of entrepreneurs bent on exploiting Books’ death, as well as outlaws that are drawn to Books in search of glory.

Hero, realizing that they must change their approach to salvage some form of victory, reaches an ‘all is lost moment’. Having been revealed, Books makes arrangements with businesses in town to cash in on his reputation before his death. Serepta, a hooker from his past and the former love of his life, shows up unexpectedly. He takes heart from her visit until he realizes that she too has come to exploit him. She’s been approached for an interview for a book that will spin a lurid tale about her life with him, and now wants to marry him so that she’ll have his name to cash in on. Books is devastated by this and by his impotence when she offers sex in an attempt to change his mind. Gutted by her betrayal, he tells her to take her train fare and leave him. This is the turning point when Books decides to take the manner of death into his own hands.

The showdown where the hero and villain face off. Books has Gillom, the landlady’s son, carry a separate challenge to three outlaws in the area, each without the others knowing. He arranges to meet them in the Connie, the classiest saloon in El Paso, setting up a final shootout and luring in the villains who see him as a trophy. His decades of gunfighting have given him the talent and wisdom to orchestrate the ensuing gunfight, in which all of his opponents are killed. Unexpectedly, the bartender shoots Books in the back, dropping him, but Books isn’t dead yet. Only when Gillom Rogers enters the Connie, takes Books’ prized pistols, and shoots the gunfighter in the back of the head at his request, does Books finally meet his end.

The hero’s sacrifice is rewarded. Books’ reward is to die as he lived, in a gunfight. As a final act of repentance for his life of notoriety and killing, he has relieved the town of four other gunmen who will trouble the good citizens of El Paso no longer.

Learn more about obligatory scenes and conventions.

3. What is the point of view?

Third person omniscient. The story is written primarily from Books’ viewpoint, but the narrative regularly includes events and character reactions that would not be accessible from the focal character’s limited point of view.

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4. What are the objects of desire?

Books wants to live. Once he realizes he’s dying, Books wants to go out on his own terms, to die a “good” death rather than to waste away from the ravages of cancer. He also wants to help out Bond, whom he feels he could have loved under other circumstances.

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5. What is the controlling idea / theme?

Justice by his own terms prevails when the hero exploits his reputation for the benefit of others and sacrifices himself in a final gunfight to go down in a blaze of glory rather than die in bed.

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6. What is the beginning hook, middle build and ending payoff?

Beginning Hook – JB Books rides into El Paso to meet with a doctor who patched him up years back from a near fatal shooting. He takes up residence in a boarding house run by the widowed Bond Rogers. The doctor diagnoses him with a fatal cancer. Books must now face up to his inevitable, unpleasant and imminent death. He determines to die quietly in El Paso.

Middle Build – Books’ past reputation is revealed when a deputy sheriff demands that he leave town. Books declines, telling the deputy that he’s dying and will die here. Bond is unhappy with Books’ decision to die in her boarding house, but she is a compassionate woman and cannot turn him out. Books develops feelings toward her, and she comes to grudgingly respect Books.

Bond’s son Gillom is excited to have a famous gunslinger in the boarding house but ends up disappointed by Books’ weakness. He and Books lock horns as the older man tries to teach him some respect. A parade of people wanting to cash in on Books’ reputation stream to the town and boarding house. Books takes as much control over these propositions as he can, intending to provide the money to the landlady, whom he admires. Word has also spread among the unsavory types in the area, and several outlaws drift into town, wanting to be known as the man who bested JB Books. As the disease progresses, Books becomes more dependent on the opium-based medicine given to him by the doctor. It exacts as heavy a toll on him as the cancer progresses.

Ending Payoff – Books recognizes the name of an outlaw in the local newspaper and Books begins to formulate a way to cheat the disease and go out in a blaze of glory. Meanwhile, a meeting with Bond’s minister leaves him with no sense of redemption or grace. He knows he is damned and dying. He arranges for four outlaws to meet him at the Connie, where he manages to kill all of them in a shootout. Books is wounded but not dead. Gillon Rogers arrives after stealing the money Books left for his mother. Books begs Gillom to put him out of his misery.

Gillom does so, takes Books’ guns, and leaves the saloon, eager to embark upon his own bad life as an outlaw. The ending is inevitable, unexpected, and ironic.