In the novel A Paunch Full of Pesos by Norman Crane and the Film The Quick and the Dead, the protagonists are on a quest to exact revenge on individuals who have harmed them by taking everything that they value away. An analysis of both pieces of literature will show examples of how social norms within societies in the Wild West explore how individuals perceive and react to situations bestowed upon them. The pieces of media show how society impacts the decisions on individuals despite the socially accepted decisions contradicting the morals of the character where the struggle of what is expected and what one feels right is explored. Often the norms of a culture dictate how an individual handles a situation despite the methods contradicting the morals of the individual. In both literature pieces, the characters are set out on exacting revenge on people who have caused pain and suffering in their lives. In the novel A Paunch Full of Pesos, the protagonist Fenimore is out on a quest to kill the men who have taken everything tangible to him and the women who betrayed him. One can show empathy and connect towards this character as literally everything tangible and intangible has been taken away from this individual despite not knowing the exact details of the nature of how Fenimore was harmed by the individuals. In the Wild West, an individual's reputation is their ability to take another's life and justice within this respected culture is enacted through an eye for an eye mentality. In respect to the Fenimore’s quest for revenge, the reader can feel that he embodies the norms of justice through revenge as he mentions several times why he must seek revenge, “7 coins for …show more content…
In A Paunch full of Pesos there were several factions within the town that were plotting to exact their ambitions in order to create a better society according to the respective factions