Lesson 21-2 William S. Hart and the early 'Western' film
And although no period or place in American history has been more absurdly romanticized, myth and reality did join hands in at least one arena, the conflict between the individual and encroaching civilization.
Men accustomed to struggling for survival against the elements and Indians were bewildered by politicians, bankers and businessmen, and unhorsed by fences, laws and alien taboos. Hart's good-bad man was always an outsider, always one of the disinherited, and if he found it necessary to shoot a sheriff or rob a bank along the way, his early audiences found it easy to understand and forgive, especially when it was Hart who, in the end, overcame the attacking Indians.
Audiences in the second decade of the twentieth century found it pleasant to escape to a time when life, though hard, was relatively simple. We still do; living in a world in which undeclared aggression, war, hypocrisy, chicanery, anarchy and impending immolation are part of our daily lives, we all want a code to live by.
absurdly /əbˈsɜːrd/ 荒谬的;荒唐的
join hands in 携手联合
encroaching /ɪnˈkroʊtʃɪŋ/ 渐渐渗入的
bewilder /bɪˈwɪldər/ 使迷惑;使糊涂
unhorse 使下马;赶下台
fence /fens/ 围栏;栅栏;篱笆;
alien /ˈeɪliən/ 外国人;外星人
taboo /təˈbuː/ 忌讳;禁止;避讳;戒律
disinherit /ˌdɪsɪnˈherɪt/ 剥夺继承权;
rob /rɑːb/ 抢劫（银行、店铺等）;抢，盗窃……的财物;
undeclared /ˌʌndɪˈklerd/ 未经宣布的，未申报的;未声明的;未承认的
aggression /əˈɡreʃn/ 侵略;侵犯;
hypocrisy /hɪˈpɑːkrəsi/ 虚伪;伪善
chicanery /ʃɪˈkeɪnəri/ 诈骗;欺骗
anarchy /ˈænərki/ 无政府状态;混乱;无法无天
impending /ɪmˈpendɪŋ/ 即将发生的;迫在眉睫的
immolation /ˈɪməˌleɪʃən/ 杀戮， 献祭
code 准则