The Laughing Chief
Towards the end of class, we discussed the parallels between the end of the Chief's relationship with Mary Hudson and the end of The Laughing Man. However, looking back at all of the stories told of The Laughing Man, I noticed a lot of parallels in general between descriptions of the Chief's life and stories of The Laughing Man. The short story begins with a description of the Comanches, and with it one of the Chief. The Chief is painted as almost a legend, with a "Just in passing" description of his achievements going on for a quarter of a page and ending with a statement of everyone's admiration for him. Similarly, The Laughing Man is described as a more conventional legend, with an epic backstory outlining how much awe the children held him in. Right from the beginning, the idea of both of these figures being legendary, almost superhuman, is laid out. Towards the end of the "backstory" of The Laughing Man, he is described as lonely, until he finds h...