Shane (novel)
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| Author | Jack Schaefer |
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| Language | English |
| Genre | Western |
| Publisher | Houghton Mifflin |
Publication date | 1949 |
| Publication place | United States |
| Media type | Print (Hardback & Paperback) |
| Pages | 214 p. (hardback first edition) & 119 p. (paperback edition) |
| ISBN | ISBN 978-0-553-27110-2 (paperback edition) Parameter error in {{ISBNT}}: invalid character |
Shane is a 1949 western book by Jack Schaefer, journalist. It is often considered his greatest novel.
Plot summary
Template:Spoiler In the summer of 1889, young Bob Starrett (narrator) spots a man riding into a small Wyoming town where his family has recently moved. The stranger (Shane), noticing Bob's presence, stops at the Starretts' home to refresh himself and his horse with water. The neighborly Joe Starret, leader of a family of homesteaders, lets Shane use his water and then invites him to stay for dinner. Because of weather, Shane's departure becomes delayed multiple times. The longer Shane stays, the more he becomes involved in two conflicts: one with himself and one that he fights for the Starretts.
Shane gets along well with the entire family, because of his flattering manners, although the family recognizes that he is likely to be very dangerous. As this suspicion grows, they try their hardest to slip answers out of Shane that might give more details on who he is. Even though he hides his past and frustrates the Starretts, his manner and attitude also continue to please the family. Starrett hires Shane as a helping-hand. To the Starretts, this means that Shane may very well become involved in a conflict between a few powerful cattlemen and some homesteaders that the cattlemen intend to remove from "their land". Worried for Shane, Joe Starrett tries to keep him away from town; however, the inevitability of Shane eventually going into town exposes him to the enemy cattlemen.
Shane decides to ignore mocking from the cattlemen. However, when his reputation starts affecting the way Mr. Starrett is treated, he decides to settle some business with the cattlemen and their leader, Fletcher.
As the conflict rises, Shane's involvement in the cattlemen vs. homesteaders conflict becomes more and more personal. However, he continues to hide his past as a gunman- which becomes apparent later in the story.
At the end of the story, Shane realizes that no matter how hard he tries to escape his gunslinging career, he will never be able to dodge his fate and his true purpose in life. So, after personally eliminating Fletcher and his hired gunman, Stark Wilson, he leaves the town and the Starrett family in peace as he continues on in his journey of life.
Characters in "Shane"
- Shane – the traveller and ex gunfighter.- a mysterious gunman who enters into the life of Joe Starrett and his family and carves a place for himself in their hearts. Although he tries to leave his gunslinging past behind, refusing to even carry a gun, he decides to fight Fletcher, the town nemesis, in order to save Joe Starrett's farm. After he kills Fletcher and Wilson, he feels he must leave the town forever. (There is an unstated implication that he may be dying, as he departs.)
- Bob Starrett – farmer's boy who befriends Shane, - Bob takes the reader out of the realm of adulthood. Looking at Shane and life through his eyes allows a different perspective; it is one of awe and reverence and one tempered by the boyishness of the Old West. Bob fancies guns and pretends to shoot Indians. He is a good boy, but his character is by no means developed. The impact Shane has on him is observable throughout and is probably greater than Shane's impact on any one other person.Shane cared about everyone in the Starrett family. Before Shane came along, Bob used to admire Fletcher and his men. After meeting Shane, Bob has a completely new definition of what it means to be a real hero and finally has a real role model to fill that spot. Bob learns that being a man is not about toting guns or asserting dominance over others. He learns that being a man is about doing the right thing, and he looks to Shane time and time again for demonstration. Shane also affirms Bob's opinion about his father. Bob sees Shane's deep respect and loyalty to Joe, and Bob knows that his father is not like Fletcher's men, but is more like Shane—respectable and a true hero.
- Joe Starrett – Bob's father, a Wyoming farmer who develops a rare and strong friendship with Shane. Joe is the understated hero of the book. Next to most people, he is a dominant respectable force—people often look to him as a hero. The only person who dwarfs Joe is Shane, but Joe is secure enough in his manhood that he never exhibits any jealousy toward Shane. He acknowledges that Shane is a better man and exhibits love for Shane and not resentment for all his good qualities. This knowledge makes him want to glean as much from Shane as possible—his companionship, his friendship, his hard work at the farm. Joe's immediate embracing of Shane and Shane's character demonstrates that Joe knows a good man when he sees one and explains why he will not let Shane slip away. Like Shane, Joe comes through as well, even rescuing Shane from a dangerous situation. The relationship between them is mutual—they both give and take from each other in an easy, egalitarian fashion. Their relationship is based on their being tandem characters, who possess the same values.
- Luke Fletcher – one of the main antagonists of the story. He is out to claim all the land he can, regardless of who already occupies it.
- Marian Starrett – Joe Starrett's wife.
- Chris – one of Fletcher's followers. He later asks to work for Joe, realizing the error in Fletcher's ways.
- Wilson – Fletcher's gunman. Most likely hired to stop Shane.
Major themes
Shane realizes that no matter what he does to escape his past, he will always be a gunfighter. At the end, he accepts this and serves his purpose as a gunslinger by fighting the antagonist, Fletcher.
Quotes
- "'Call me Shane.'" --Shane
- "'You wouldn't have. Not where you come from. He's a special brand we sometimes get out here in the grass country. I've come across a few. A bad one's poison. A good one's straight grain clear through.'" --Joe Starrett
- "'A man is what he is, Bob, and there's no breaking the mold. I tried that and I've lost. But I reckon it was in the cards from the moment I saw a freckled kid on a rail up the road there and a real man behind him, the kind that could back him for the chance another kid never had.'" --Shane
- '"Yes," said Mr. Weir. "He's alive all right. Wilson got to him. But no bullet can kill that man." A puzzled, faraway sort of look flitted across Mr. Weir's face. "Sometimes I wonder whether anything ever could."' --Mr. Weir
Film, TV or theatrical adaptations
- 1953 film Shane, starring Alan Ladd, Jean Arthur and directed by George Stevens
- 1966 television series Shane, starring David Carradine and directed by Herschel Daugherty and Gary Nelson