Hondo

Last updated on: September 12, 2012 at 6:08 am by Coyle Neal

Hondo 2012-09-12T06:08:16-06:00 Coyle Neal

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Review of Hondo, Directed by Louis L’Amour

By COYLE NEAL

As I’ve mentioned in an earlier post, Americans are always in search of their own body of myths and legends—a literary past we can look to and claim as our own. The most recognizable and uniquely American body of literature that has grown up as a result of this search is the Western. This is particularly of interest to Christians, as perhaps no genre more easily reflects the Gospel than this one. With the trope of the townspeople being oppressed by the villain until the hero rides into town and sets them free—often at great personal cost to himself—the opportunities to picture (or parody) the Gospel are many. Few Westerns fit this mold better than Louis L’Amour’s Hondo.

The plot is surprisingly complex: Angie and her son Johnny have been abandoned by her husband Ed, only to be taken under the wing of the proud Apache chief Vittoro. Vittoro, who is about to start a war with the cavalry, offers to spare them, on the condition that Johnny be raised in the ways of the Apache, which means that unless his own father returns Angie will have to marry an Indian so that Johnny will receive a proper education. All this while the Indians are preparing to rise up against the government over a broken treaty. (See? I told you it was complicated.) Into this mess of personal and political conflict rides Hondo Lane with his dog Sam. Gruff, strong, and well-adapted to a harsh land, Hondo embodies the Western ideal:

No man knows the hour of his ending, nor can he choose the place of the manner of his going. To each it is given to die proudly, to die well, and this is, indeed, the final measure of the man. (46)

Death and the necessity of facing it well are the constant themes running through this book. The war between the Apache and the government, survival in a harsh land, raising a child on the frontier … all take place in the ever-present shadow of death. Every action may be the last for Hondo, Angie, Johnny, or Vittoro. And in this theme of living in the shadow of death, we find both new life and the great American myth that we’ve been searching for. L’Amour states in his introduction to this small-scale Western epic:

I sing of arms and men, not of presidents, kings, generals, or passing explorers, but of those who survived their personal, lonely Alamos, men who drove the cattle, plowed the furrows, built their shelters against the wind, the men who built a nation. […]

I do not need to go to Thermopylae or the Plains of Marathon for heroism. I find it here on the frontier. I found it at Adobe Walls, at Beecher’s Island, and in the aged Indian who charged the cavalry alone, with a worn-out knife […] Did Demosthenes or Cicero ever speak with greater eloquence than Chief Joseph? (vi)

The story—the myth—Americans are looking for must respond to the ever-present specter of death. In Hondo, the response is to live virtuously, fight hard, and raise the next generation to be a combination of all of the virtues of the past. Specifically, it is Hondo Lane who must do all of these things, and do them vicariously for Angie and Johnny so that all three of them may achieve new life by struggling well through the Indian Wars and, as a result, attain the glorious hope of the future civilization being built in the west. Hondo’s Christlike hard work, virtue, and sacrifice opens up a chance for Angie and Johnny to escape from a world of violence and death. And I really can’t say much more than that without giving away too many plot points. So if you want to know the details (including Hondo’s terrible secret), you’ll have to read the book. Which you should do, because it’s a good one.

Disclaimer 1: This book is actually a novelization of the John Wayne movie, which in turn was based on one of L’Amour’s short stories called “The Gift of Cochise.” So in a sense, the novel is the third draft of the narrative.

Disclaimer 2: The wife will insist that I tell you that the dog does, indeed, die. You have been warned.

Coyle Neal lives in Washington, DC, where he hopes soon to be finished being a graduate student.

Previous Post

September 11, 2012

Justice and Terror

Next Post

September 13, 2012 Hereafter Without Christianity

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Action AFI Top 100 Animation Best Picture Winner BFI Top 250 Biography Biopic Books Childrens Christian Classics Classics Comedy Crime Documentary Drama Editor's Choice Family Fantasy Fantasy Films Foreign Historical Historical Fiction History Horror Horror IMDB Top 250 Indie Memoir Modern Novel Musical Mystery Non-Fiction Oscars Philosophy Poetry Popular Literature Reading and Writing Reality Romance Science Fiction Science Fiction Silent Sports Thriller TV Show Uncategorized Western Westerns Young Adult

Select a Month October 2026 September 2026 July 2026 June 2026 May 2026 April 2026 March 2026 February 2026 January 2026 December 2025 November 2025 October 2025 September 2025 August 2025 July 2025 June 2025 May 2025 April 2025 March 2025 February 2025 January 2025 December 2024 July 2024 June 2024 May 2024 April 2024 March 2024 February 2024 January 2024 December 2023 November 2023 October 2023 September 2023 August 2023 July 2023 June 2023 May 2023 April 2023 March 2023 February 2023 January 2023 December 2022 November 2022 October 2022 September 2022 August 2022 July 2022 June 2022 May 2022 April 2022 March 2022 February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 November 2021 October 2021 September 2021 August 2021 July 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 June 2017 January 2017 December 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

According to Jesus, who will inherit the earth?

Select your answer to see how you score.

The wise The rich The strong The meek