In the novel, "The Ox-Bow Incident,"
and the movie, "First Knight," the differences by far out weighed the
similarities. Some of the more evident
similarities Round Table had a set book of laws and rules that all knights must
abide by, regardless of their feelings were, the characters seemed to both have
a leader which they followed, Tetley in "the Ox-Bow", and King Arthur
in "First Knight". Both groups
seemed to follow what their so-called "leaders" said. Nobody wanted
to stand up to Tetley nor King Arthur, they just did what they were told,
regardless of whether or not they felt that it was moral or not.
Some of the differences range from; law, their
feelings toward others, and their ethics and morale. The first difference is the two groups view
on the law. The Knights of the about them. Whereas, the cowboys had a set of
unwritten laws, which they changed whenever there was something that they
wanted to pursue. Most of them felt that
the law was wrong and too slow, so they often decided to take law into their
own hands and form posses. If the majority of the people believed that a
certain person is guilty or not, they would act upon him/her without a fair
trial. Their view of the law was that it
"just gets in the way" and should be abolished all together. The Knights believed that the law was good
and is there for a reason, while the cowboys felt the law was wrong and took
action into their own hands.
The two groups both showed a special friendship
for each other, yet their friendships were based on different feelings. They
were always ready for action and didn't have the time to express their
friendship to others. Their friendships
were almost always a temporary thing, meaning one minute they could be your
best friend and the next, your worst enemy. They also didn't express their love
like the Knights did. They showed their
appreciation through the respect of
others while the Knights expressed their feelings through trust.
The Knights, on the other hand, showed a great
deal of love and friendship. Their
relationships were based on assurance and trust, whereas the cowboys didn't
rely on anyone. The Knights were also
willing to sacrifice their lives for each other, while the cowboys would let
each other die. So, in comparing the
relationships of the two groups, they both had strong relationships with each
other, yet they were based on two totally different ideas.
The last major difference between the Knights
and the cowboys was one of ethics and morale.
The two groups both showed a code of ethics that portrayed their moral
throughout the stories. The Knights had
a set of rules which they abided by and which didn't change at all in the
story. On the other hand, the cowboys ethics changed often, throughout the
"Oxbow." The cowboys were influenced
by the thoughts and beliefs of others whereas, the Knights based their beliefs
on those of King Arthur and no one else.
The Knights showed a great deal of trust in each other, and one's word
was especially important, while the cowboys didn't trust anything that anybody
said or did. They were
always looking
over their shoulder, never sure when another cowboy would turn against them.
The two stories, "The Ox-Bow
Incident," and "First Knight," contained some similarities and
many differences. Most of their
differences seemed to be based on the relationship between the characters,
while they were similar in the fact that they both had someone assume the role
of leadership. The Knights usually acted
as a group, whereas the cowboys seemed to act alone as individuals. Yet, both groups showed a sense of togetherness and community even though their
beliefs and feelings were completely opposite.
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