Essay/Term paper: First knight and oxbow incident

Essay, term paper, research paper:  Movie Reviews

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.