Billy The Kid Chapter Summaries

Billy the Kid: A Comparative Analysis Using Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure

The Outlaw of the Wild West, Billy the Kid started his life of crime at the young age of 15, this creates his legacy and the reason why he is one of many historical figures Bill and Ted meet. Billy the Kid’s legacy is very different compared to the other figures in the movie and in history. In Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure, Billy the Kid is viewed friendly and is loyal to Bill and Ted, which is not true to the legend of Billy the Kid.

The film, Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure, is about two high school students, Bill S. Preston and Ted “Theodore” Logan, who are both failing their History class. A man named Rufus comes from the future to give them a time machine, which gives Bill and Ted the ability to travel back into history. While going back they meet Billy the Kid, Sigmund Freud, Napoleon Bonaparte, and several more. While meeting the historical figures, they run into several problems. But in the end, they get back to the high school, just in time to give their oral

report, and ended up passing their history class.
When we first meet Billy the Kid he seems dangerous. When we see him, he walks into a bar in the Wild West, in which he shoots his gun. Bill and Ted ends up playing a game with Billy, which a few guys are convinced that Billy was cheating, this leads to a bar fight. During the mall scene, him and Socrates, were talking to two girls in the food court. He told the girls that he was from history and showed them his wanted poster. During the oral report, Billy is the first historical figure to speak. We see Billy shoot his gun, again. He then introduces Bill and Ted as his good friends. We see this loyal side of Billy that you would not have thought that Billy the Kid would be like.
Billy the Kid’s real name is actually William Henry McCarty Jr., born on November 23, of 1859, and is believed to be born in New York. When Billy was younger, historians do not know what happened to his father; he either left or passed away, leaving Billy with his mother. His mother then remarried. According to the Biography.com Editors, his mother passed away due to a sickness when Billy was only 15. After his mother passed, his stepfather wanted nothing to do with Billy, so he left. Shortly after these events, Billy stated his career in crime. It is stated in the article, The Life and Legend of Billy the Kid, that the start to being an outlaw was when he was arrested for his role in the theft of a Chinese laundry operator, where he stole clothing and two pistols. After he was arrested, he then escaped and was on the run. It is to be rumored that he killed 21 people, each one for a year of his life. Billy the Kid is the legend that gave us the idea of the Wild West. The idea of bandits running around, sheriffs, and bar fights. The whole Wild West in the movies, are like they are because of Billy the Kid.
There are many similarities between Billy in Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure and the legacy of the actual Billy the Kid.

In the film, Billy is a brave, adventurous and even charming. This coincides with the real Billy. According to David S. Turk, Billy the Kid was characterized as ambitious, charismatic, but then like a flick of a switch he can be angry, and evil. But the differences between the film Billy and the legacy Billy has to deal with other personality traits. In the movie, Billy became loyal to Bill and Ted very quickly, during the film Billy even saved Bill and Ted. This is not how we imagine Billy the Kid’s legacy is or how he behaved. From several articles, they talk about him constantly being on the run, also with all of the events he went through as a child, he would not have trusted two people he just met. Instead the film made Billy a caring partner to Bill and

Ted.
In conclusion, the film Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure does not accurately represent the legend of Billy the Kid. During the movie, there were several personality traits that the film left out. Billy the Kid was a ruthless outlaw who ruled the Wild West, while in the film he was a trustworthy companion towards Bill and Ted. If Billy the Kid didn’t start his outlawing days at a young age, who knows if we would even have the idea of a Wild West.