MovieChat Forums > The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962) Discussion > Is Pompey supposed to be Tom's slave?

Is Pompey supposed to be Tom's slave?


He loved his oppressor so much. He saved him from the fire and cried for him in the beginning of the film when he died. Isn't that special. ?

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He is sort of a voluntary slave. I'm sure that he could leave anytime he wanted, but what else is a black man going to do? He's got a relitively good life working for Tom.

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Guess Tom wasn't so oppressive after all.

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Pompey was not a slave. He worked for and was a friend of Tom's. They looked out for each other.

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"Pompey what are you doing here learning how to read and write? Get back to work!" Yeah some friend who he's looking out for with that line... ?

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I don't think Tom had any genuine opposition to Pompey's education. The real issue was that Ranse, whether intentionally or not, was luring Hallie away from Tom. So Tom masked this sore and insecure point by admonishing Pompey when he was REALLY worried about losing his girl.

And maybe there WAS work to be done -- did you expect Tom to do ALL of the work, Barksdale? And aren't you forgetting that Pompey was taking in the egalaitarian truisms of the Declaration of Independance and the United States Constitution that were being taught in class, until Tom sent him back to work?




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Fantastic response.

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"Pompey what are you doing here learning how to read and write? Get back to work!" Yeah some friend who he's looking out for with that line... ?


I took that to be a comment from an employer to his employee. Tom was paying Pompey to do work for him and when Tom saw that nothing had been done, he was angry. Plus it sounds like Pompey just went off and did his thing instead of asking his employer for time off work.

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The west was a little bit more excepting of black people. There was so many different races and ethnicities out there and so much work to do. Don't get me wrong it was still racist time and segregation was prevailant but they had to coexist to get everything done and survive. Like others said Pompey had it pretty good why would he leave.

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There's also the unspoken bond between Tom and Pompey. It doesn't appear that these two men had any truly close friends besides one another.

It's easy enough to suppose that Pompey was once a slave of Tom's family but was freed after the war, stayed on with his former owners as their farm hand, and later went West with Tom. Other persons of color in the territory with which Pompey could associate may have been few and far between. So it just strikes me that he pretty much devoted himself to working Tom's ranch and being his right hand man.

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Pompey was probably born and raised during slavery so even though he may have been legally emancipated, many like him during those times still thought of relationships with whites as a slave to master relationship unfortunately.

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Pompey is to Tom as Sam is to Rick.

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Interesting alalogy.

Rick can be gruff with Sam but only rarely (as when emotionally overwhelmed after Ilsa "walks into his gin joint.") It strikes me that Rick treats Sam in much the same manner as any decent boss treats a good employee.

Sam is Rick's closest associate among all of the other employees of Rick's establishment. Given the racism and prejucies of the Jim Crow days, Sam long adopted a congenial and servile public persona so as to placate white employers and patrons and not have his success as a singer-musician impeded (though except from force of habit he need not put on that front to Rick, who is far ahead of his time in his social relations and towards minorities.)

Tom is rugged and tough but, other than yanking Pompey from the classroom, doesn't seem the type to treat Pompey any worse than if a white man were working in Pompey's stead. I mentioned a "bond" between Tom and Pompey in an earlier comment and I think where that bond is evident is when Pompey beccomes an accessory in the matter of dealing with Liberty Valance; Pompey wasn't really needed at all for that transaction, but obviously there is a depth of something -- I like to think "brotherliness" -- between him and Tom that makes Pompey willing to stay on with his boss through thick and thin.

Crap, all I've done here is to digress WAY off topic and open up a dozen cans of worms in the process! But it really is fun to compare Tom and Pompey from TMWSLV with Rick and Sam from CASABLANCA.

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Plus Sam got 10% of Rick's. I am guessing he was a partner and his contribution was atmosphere and directing the music.

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Pompey is to Tom as Mammy is to Scarlett.

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He just seems to be an old ranch hand. I don't see any indications that he was a slave at all.

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He's the male Mammy.

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