Similarities Between One Last Gun Notch And Grub Line Rider

Short Stories Essay

One Last Gun Notch and Grub Line Rider are the two short stories that I am comparing. Both stories are about men who have a mind set that a certain object or land belongs to them because of who they are. In One Last Gun Notch it reads: “Well, that damned fool nester should have known better than to settle on that Red Basin land. It was Sherman’s best grazing land, even if he didn’t own it.” (L’Amour 146). It also reads: “Vic Hallam was young, and he was green. He was, they said, a fine shot with a rifle, and fair man with a gun when he got it out, but by Western standards he was pitifully slow. He was about twenty-six, his wife a mere girl of nineteen, and pretty. Despite his youth, Hallam was outspoken. He had led the

resistance against Sherman, and had sworn to stay in Red Basin as long as he wished. He had every legal right to the land, and Sherman had none. But Morgan Clyde had long ago shelved any regard for the law. The man with the fastest gun was the law along the frontier, and so far he had been the fastest. If Sherman wanted Red Basin, he’d get it.” ( L’Amour 149). Both of these quotes from the book show how Sherman was a very greedy man who believed that he could possess any land that he wanted and control who ever he pleased.
The Grub Line Rider also has a man who believes that he has an entitlement to land that doesn’t belong to him.

In the story it reads: He rode on, walking the dun, and the three wheeled their mounts and came toward him at a canter. A tall man rode a gray horse in the van. The other two were obviously cowhands, and all wore guns. The tall man had a lean face with a knife scar across the cheek. You there! He roared, reining in. “What you doin’ ridin here?’’ Kim Sartain drew up, his lithe trail hardened body easy in the saddle. “Why, I’m riding through,’’ he said quietly, “and in particular hurry. You got this country fenced against travel?’’ “Well it ain’t no trail!’’ The big man’s eyes were grey and hostile. “You just turn around and ride back the way you come! The trail goes around through Ryerson.” “That’s twenty miles out of the way,” Kim objected, “and this here’s a nice ride. I reckon I’ll keep on the way I’m goin’.”” (L’Amour 194). This quote also shed light onto his possessiveness over the land: “As for you” Kim’s eyes turned on the tall man “you’d best learn now as later how to treat strangers. This country ain’t fenced, and from the look of it, ain’t used. You’ve no right to keep anybody out of here, and when I want to ride through, I’ll ride through! Get me?”(L’Amour 195). Jim Targ and Sherman both had the same belief that they could have whatever they wanted no matter the cost. They had a twisted view on how to handle things; they both used violence to rein in

power over people.
The difference between both stories are that in Grub Hub Liner the antagonist gives into the protagonist and leaves, although he didn’t leave without a fight, he began realizing that he had no chance in winning the fight. One Last Gun Notch tells a different story, the antagonist’s right-hand man was not faithful and in turn made this a very different story. Morgan Clyde was Sherman’s killer and Clyde decided that he wasn’t going to go through with the order to kill Hallam, and in turn wanted a better life without Sherman demanding him to do his dirty work. Sherman did not have the same fate as Clay Tanner; Sherman didn’t come out of the fight with his life. Morgan killed Sherman and all of his men in One Last Gun Notch, while as Targ left with his life in Grub Hub Liner.

Citations:
L'amour, Louis. “One Last Gun Notch”. Law of the Desert Born. Rev. New York:Bantam, 1983. Print 143-153
L'amour, Louis. “Grub Line Rider”. Law of the Desert Born. Rev. New York:Bantam, 1983. Print 193-210