In Jane Tompkins’ book, "West of Everything," she states that, "the Western answers the dominated American Victorian culture," arguing that the Western genre of film de-emphasizes religion, orderly law, and domesticated love in place of violence, the stoic man, and undomesticated living. Tompkins’ thesis functions in accord with most Westerns, as illustrated by John Ford’s Stagecoach, Fred Zinneman’s High Noon, and Howard Hawks’ Rio Bravo. In each of these three films, the primary protagonists are immersed in a world ruled by the gun, where the distinctions made between lawmen and gunmen are not always lucid, and where religion is seen as an impotent force in an unstable land where chaos reigns as a constant threat to any semblance of security.

      Stagecoach, High Noon, and Rio Bravo are framed within the parameters of a conflict which is resolved only through the tribulations and perseverance of the protagonists— the Ringo Kid, Will Kane, and John T. Chance, respectively— all of whom are introduced to the audience in the Homeric fashion of in medius res; in the midst of things. In Stagecoach, Ringo literally and symbolically emerges from the wilds of Nature, upholding the standards of the "outlaw"—the outcast of society. Ringo himself admits this sentiment: "you can’t break out of prison and into society in the same week." Ringo’s sole purpose is to seek revenge for the murder of his father and brother, and even though no one believes him capable of defeating Lou Plumber and his two brothers in a gunfight, Ringo is unable to avoid the conflict, saying that, "there are some things a man can’t run away from." Indeed, this sense of an unavoidable purpose is apparent when Ringo dismounts from his horse upon seeing Apache smoke signals. In this defining moment of moral character, Ringo gives up his opportunity to escape from the law in order to remain and help protect the vulnerable passengers, ultimately answering to the higher law of humanity.