Author Type

Graduate Student

Date of Award

1976

Document Type

Thesis

Publication Status

Version of Record

Submission Date

October 2026

Thesis/Dissertation Advisor [Chair]

Coyle, William

Abstract

The existence of a vast frontier prior to the twentieth century afforded great opportunities and produced an optimism among the American people. When the lands filled up, the frontier vanished and with it that optimism. In order to recapture the feeling of hope associated with the existence of a frontier, a whole mythology was built around the Old. West and its chief representative, the cowboy. Modern Texans, the subjects of Larry McMurtry's novels, are well acquainted with legends of the Old West. But the myth bears little resemblance to their own lives in a hectic, rapidly changing modern Texas. It is necessary for the McMurtry character to appreciate his heritage but sever himself from it in order to cope with the twentieth century. In a closed society limitations must be accepted and one must find contentment in his own era rather than trying to escape to another.

Extent

96 p.

Comments

Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters|Thesis (M.A.)--Florida Atlantic University, 1976.|FAU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Collection|Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters

Identifier

FADT13817

Format

pdf

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