The Ox-Bow Incident Analysis

People respond differently to situations, depending on their morals. In The Ox-Bow Incident by Walter Van Tilburg Clark, the town's people's morals are shown through their reactions to hearing about Kinkaid’s murder. A messenger tells the men about Kinkaid being shot and his cattle taken. They form a posse and kill the men they think are responsible. The sheriff tells them they killed the wrong people. Stricken by grief, two men responsible for hanging the other men kill themselves as well. The posse is not thinking clearly and rationally because they are emotional. People’s cattle have been stolen over the past few days, and they just found out a person they knew has been killed. Kinkaid’s death blinds the posse with emotions, causing them to carry out poor decisions, while trying to receive justice.
The men try to leave immediately when they hear rustlers shot Kinkaid. They did not think through about how they are going to find the men or get justice. A couple of older men around town know the best way to proceed is to form an organized group and …show more content…
Throughout the book, the town's sheriff is missing. The sheriff went to Kinkaid’s house to see what is happening. During his absence, there is an appointed a deputy to handle situations around town. The wiser men around town know it would be a mistake to involve the deputy, as he would not follow the law out how it should be. So when they send for Judge Tyler they are instructed to not bring Mapes. When they get the Judge, Mapes is with him and hears anyways. One of the first orders Mapes gives is illegal. It is not legal to organize a posse without the sheriff present. To try and overwrite this rule, Mapes appoints the group as deputy, claiming himself as the temporary sheriff. The townspeople go along with Mapes, because they do not care how they bring to justice the men responsible, just as long as it is done as soon as