Walter Van Tilburg Clark

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…

survive a nuclear explosion, but the aftermath hits even harder. Survival may be hard in the nuclear winter, but in “ The Portable Phonograph” by Walter Van Tilburg Clark, the character, Dr. Jenkins, has it figured out. Gratefully he has fire and water and protection, which according to the article “ How to Survive Nuclear Winter” by James Roberts, Dr. Jenkins has all the needed supplies for the winter. Although it may not be the an ideal type of winter, but nuclear bombs would devastate the…

Winter in Vancouver is easy, as there are very few snow days, as well as days when the temperature is below zero. If the winters in Vancouver are difficult for some, a nuclear winter would be much more challenging. Nuclear winters are hard for the people that survive because it is depressing, dangerous, and cold. The short story “Portable Phonograph” by Walter Van Tilburg Clark shows what it is like living through a nuclear winter through a man’s eyes. It explains how the man survives, and the…

did they do? They searched for ways to demonstrate courage while at the same time ensuring acceptance by their group. Croft said “Most men are more afraid of being thought cowards than of anything else, and a lot more afraid of being thought physical cowards than moral ones." (Clark, 62). In this statement Croft shows one underlying motivation of the lynch mob. The men's need to not be viewed as weak or cowardly by the other members of the mob, overrode their desire to show moral courage and…