...

Tropes... 🌽

The following is a compendium of all the tropes I've noticed carrying across a variety of Western dime novels. A lot of these tropes are brought up by Daryl Jones in his thought-provoking work on the topic, picked from the pages of The Dime Novel Western. I will credit him where his ideas are used!

General Tropes

Man vs. Nature

Many Westerns portray a complex relationship between man and nature. On the one hand is the desire to become one with nature; to embrace wildness and the beauty of the natural world. On the other hand, is the colonialist impression that nature must be conquered and dominated, an idea sprung from Plato’s promise that blessed land lay in the West. Many may also recognize this sentiment as Manifest Destiny. This topic is especially at the forefront in a time when nature is beginning to disappear due to urbanization, a process Americans watch with, in the words of Daryl Jones, “mixed pride and wistfulness” (Jones 18).

Native Americans as a "Problem"

For varying far-fetched reasons, Western heroes in dime novels seem to consistently find themselves at odds with the Indigenous populace of the West, in some regard. This trope began to fade out along with many other Manifest Destiny type tropes towards the end of the century, but nonetheless, many Western stories deployed racist and colonialist stereotypes to pit protagonists against Native Americans. All of this feeds from the previous idea of European settlers conquering the land in order to convert it into their destined Utopia.

Romantic Plot Structure

I was curious to read, in Daryl Jones' essay, the ways in which the Western dime novel often followed the basic plot structure of old Romances (pg. 136). I felt this was curious enough to include here, and may be something to keep in mind when I write my own dime novels. Essentially, the protagonist takes up a quest in search of some ideal conclusion befitting himself. This quest will be one big adventure, complete with tough obstacles and adversaries for our hero to overcome. Eventually, he will either succeed or fail in his quest of recreating the world, in some way, to be more favorable to his own ideals, morals, and wishes.

The Frontier Town

This setting is commonplace in later dime novel Westerns (typically after 1885), and is a huge foundation for many other tropes that later come along. For example, the infamous Western saloon! Daryl Jones explains that when this setting begins to take popularity, the common enemy of the Western protagonist moves from the Native Americans to the aristocrats or corrupt sheriffs negatively affecting this small town. Again, this reflects the fears of the general public, especially nearing the turn of the century. There is a larger focus on community in stories focusing on this trope, as well as a desire to protect one's fellow man and preserve quaint ranch life.

Character Tropes

Heroes

Daryl Jones does an excellent job of outlining four main evolutionary stages that the Western dime hero undergoes. Full credit goes to him.

• The Backwoodsman - the early Western hero is an agent of civilization. He lives a life free of outstanding peril, but is often forced to fight to ensure rights over his land. (pg.26)
• The Plainsman - towards the 1870s comes the rise of the horse-riding, prairie-dwelling protagonist. Here the hero becomes younger and braver, placed in more dangerous situations, but remaining a guide to settlers. (pg. 56)
• The Outlaw - in 1877, we see a more controversial character. The noble outlaw, easily comparable to the folk hero Robin Hood. Social outlasts, openly defiant of the law, yet remaining charming and mostly-moral in their own right. Oftentimes motivated by revenge. Reflected working class distaste for the upper class, as the outlaw would often engage in stagecoach and bank robberies. Here came about an interesting trend of using real-life lawbreakers as dime novel heroes, i.e. the James brothers (pg.79).
• The Cowboy - in the 1880s to beyond, this hero emerges from a swell in the cattle industry. A humble ranch hand, he brings about the tropes of lassos, pistols, and boots with spurs. The Cowboy is all the previous protagonists combined; a noble man with a hard go of life, who is moral but not always inline with the law, enforcing his own code of ethics on other lawbreakers. (pg.99)

Villains

Depending on the decade, the main villain of a dime novel Western will usually either be an Indigenous person, or an artistocrat. The Native American will usually only be trying to protect their land and preserve the natural world, but because it comes in conflict with the hero's goal of creating Utopia, the threat must be snuffed out. Because of this, Native American villains will often be portrayed especially bloodthirsty and evil, to encourage readers that the protagonist is right. The aristocrat, general, sheriff, or other figure of authority that becomes the villain in later novels is seen as someone who abuses their power to further their own interests, at the expense of innocent, well-meaning townsfolk. Sometimes, the villain may also be a rival gunslinger.

The Heroine vs. The Siren

This is a trope discovered by Daryl Jones, so full credit goes to him! He describes a repetitive romance structure where the protagonist is forced to choose between two very different women, the Heroine and the Siren. "In the vast majority of dime novels the heroine is pure and unassailably virtuous", "angelic in appearance", and often "associated with wisdom, power, and wealth" (pg. 143), he states, and goes on to mention that the protagonist almost always ends up with her if anyone. However, he is nonetheless swayed by the Siren, who is "a dark and alluring woman of mystery", and oftentimes Latin or Native American (pg. 144). Beautiful as she is, the Siren will almost always end up with a cruel fate - either dead or heartbroken and alone.

Sidekicks

I have noticed two types of sidekicks common in Western novellas.

• The human sidekick , normally the protagonist's loyal best friend, who will always rescue him from peril.
• The non-human sidekick , usually a dog or horse, who will also always rescue the protagonist from peril. The protagonist will often have a special bond with the non-human sidekick that allows them to seemingly communicate, i.e. the horse is fond of nuzzling the hero when they are content. They make for much sadder deaths than the human sidekick, but also much nobler ones, and will always go down in defense of their masters.