The cowboy only existed in the American history for about one quarter of century--from 1865-1895. However, since the end of the 18th century, cowboy has always been the idol and subject extolled and sung in praises in a great many American literary works. The image of the cowboy who wears a big hat, carries his guns, and rides the horse under the wide, open sky on the old and vast West in the United States becomes a literary embodiment of the pioneer in the expansion of the West, a representative of justice and civilization, a symbol of the American Spirit.
But if we study the West expansion history of the18th –19th century, we will have no trouble to find out that the cowboy image in literary works, who is romantic and free, brave and just, is just a twist of the real cowboy in history, who is dealing with the hard and dull cattle drive as their main work, and an escape of the cruel tangles of the American city life. There is no similarity between the image and the real one. And, furthermore, it is the real cowboy, instead of the romantic image, that represents the American Spirit: pioneer, courage, and justice.
Key words: cowboy; literary image; twist; escape; American Spirit
The Cowboy: An Escape or a Pioneer?
--The Conflict of the Image Between Literature and Reality
Outline
Thesis Statement: Cowboys in literature show us the American escape spirit, while the cowboys in real history told us what “American Spirit” really means.
Introduction: a brief description about the cowboy in literary works and in real history.
Cowboy: A Twist Image
Cowboy’s Life: Romantic or Tough?
1. Working in the Great Plain
2. Having a rest in Cattle Towns
Cowboy’s Character: An Epic or a Common Pioneer?
The Spiritual Conflict:
The Spirit in Literature
The Spirit in Reality
Conclusion
