> what makes this extraordinary figure claim "i am the law" and how can
> this be accepted by the environmental society? is there some special
> kind of rhetoric the hero uses in order to convince the others?
This is basically a statement of the general lawlessness of the Wild
West. The sheriff is stepping up and saying, "Out here, I'm all there
is." The rhetoric is just that it's true. The premise is that
trouble keeps going on, but now that a guy with a badge is here, you
(the bad guy) are dealing with the law -- whatcha gonna do about it?
It's an act of bravery, since the environment doesn't have much
lawfulness. The law's enforcement requires someone to stand up and
say that's what's on the line, while putting himself on the line. The
surrounding citizens aren't buying into a dictatorship (though in some
movies of course there's the bad sheriff who says he's the law, who's
acting much like that), so much as they're standing around watching,
presumably hoping that order will win, but knowing that it's not
necessarily smart to take sides.
Seth Johnson
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