The Twentieth-Century Adaptation of the Captivity Narrative and the Act of Looking in Elmore Leonard's Western Stories

Abstract:

In Leonard’s two versions of the western captivity narrative, “The Colonel’s Lady” and “The Tonto Woman,” the female characters are briefly empowered through the one-sided gaze to resist the men who gaze and reject their restrictive societal rules. In this moment, the women refuse to accept oppressive actions, thereby using the gaze to their advantage. It is notable that in each of the stories only one woman has been included, thereby calling attention to the inequality that exists in American Western society. For a brief time, each female protagonist controls her destiny. Since these stories rely on captivity narratives as source material, however, eventually these women must return to white society: two-sided staring allows for the accumulation of knowledge, which assists in their return.