This university paper written by Stephanie A. Coon provided a lot of useful and applicable information to develop my thesis. The main investigation of this paper was to find out whether the legend of Jesse James corresponded to the real man, or if his actions were twisted and ignored his actions in order to form this Southern Hero.
The paper starts off with a song that has been passed down the generations of Americans about the mourning of Jesse’s death and the hatred of Robert Ford, his assassin, and the way in which he was killed. This shows that an admiration for this outlaw may have faded over time, but it has not been extinguished. It is somewhat of a miracle that his legend has lasted over 100 years when, in reality he was a guerrilla …show more content…
The legend of Jesse James is based around the stories he “suffered at the hands of the enemy, proceeded to rob the rich and gave money to the poor, assisted the fellow man, and died at the hand of a traitor.” This legend is very similar to the one of Robin Hood. However, once Coot goes into detail about these aspects of his legend, it is apparent that Jesse James was nothing like Robin Hood. The background of each of the figures before they became outlaws were somewhat similar with both being mistreated by oppressive and corrupt powers. This source points out very clearly where Jesse’s hate for the Union came from. It says that, “Federal soldiers, angry that Frank James had disappeared, assaulted a pregnant Mrs. Samuels, then grabbed her husband and hung him from a tree. Jesse managed to free Samuels, but the damage was irreversible. Because of the torture, Samuels had rope burns on his neck for the remainder of his life and suffered mental problems, eventually leading to his death in the state hospital. Following this attack, Jesse James decided to strike back at the Yankees, who had tried to kill his stepfather.” Understandably, the mistreatment of his family did not sit well with Jesse. He went out to seek revenge, even though he wasn’t even past his teens. Although he was still young, his cunning became the stuff of legend when he dressed up as …show more content…
From this information it is evident that our innate need or want of heroes come out when we are in times of stress and struggle. It doesn't matter whether they are worthy of this admiration or not. Our minds bend and twist these characters until they uphold all our values and we can strive to be like them and live through them in order to live in a world we would rather be in. For the Southerner’s Jesse represented the hatred that each of them felt towards the Union. Although he was not the generous, nor kind, nor was he a true political warrior, the people created this myth of Jesse games because of their want and need for a hero. This solidifies the statement that the heroes that we admire are not the real people that we think they are, but rather they are caricatures that we use to satisfy our values and use to relief unresolved
The paper starts off with a song that has been passed down the generations of Americans about the mourning of Jesse’s death and the hatred of Robert Ford, his assassin, and the way in which he was killed. This shows that an admiration for this outlaw may have faded over time, but it has not been extinguished. It is somewhat of a miracle that his legend has lasted over 100 years when, in reality he was a guerrilla …show more content…
The legend of Jesse James is based around the stories he “suffered at the hands of the enemy, proceeded to rob the rich and gave money to the poor, assisted the fellow man, and died at the hand of a traitor.” This legend is very similar to the one of Robin Hood. However, once Coot goes into detail about these aspects of his legend, it is apparent that Jesse James was nothing like Robin Hood. The background of each of the figures before they became outlaws were somewhat similar with both being mistreated by oppressive and corrupt powers. This source points out very clearly where Jesse’s hate for the Union came from. It says that, “Federal soldiers, angry that Frank James had disappeared, assaulted a pregnant Mrs. Samuels, then grabbed her husband and hung him from a tree. Jesse managed to free Samuels, but the damage was irreversible. Because of the torture, Samuels had rope burns on his neck for the remainder of his life and suffered mental problems, eventually leading to his death in the state hospital. Following this attack, Jesse James decided to strike back at the Yankees, who had tried to kill his stepfather.” Understandably, the mistreatment of his family did not sit well with Jesse. He went out to seek revenge, even though he wasn’t even past his teens. Although he was still young, his cunning became the stuff of legend when he dressed up as …show more content…
From this information it is evident that our innate need or want of heroes come out when we are in times of stress and struggle. It doesn't matter whether they are worthy of this admiration or not. Our minds bend and twist these characters until they uphold all our values and we can strive to be like them and live through them in order to live in a world we would rather be in. For the Southerner’s Jesse represented the hatred that each of them felt towards the Union. Although he was not the generous, nor kind, nor was he a true political warrior, the people created this myth of Jesse games because of their want and need for a hero. This solidifies the statement that the heroes that we admire are not the real people that we think they are, but rather they are caricatures that we use to satisfy our values and use to relief unresolved