Essay/Term paper: First knight and the ox-bow incident

Essay, term paper, research paper:  Movie Reviews

First Knight and The Ox-Bow Incident


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.