The Sheriff (spoilers)


Is it just me, or does it seem like the sheriff was the only REALLY noble character? I lost some respect for Pauline when she had sex with Silence: her husband JUST DIED! In the case of Silence, I lost respect for him when he, essentially, became a bounty hunter (Pauline promised to pay him if he killed Loco). Wasn't he supposed to be against the bounty hunters? However, next to Loco, these people were saints (Klaus Kinski freaks the hell out of me... all he needs to do is STAND there!)

Anyway, I was completely shocked when the sheriff was killed. I was expecting Loco to just scare the sheriff with the rifle and leave him without a horse or something like that (I was expecting HIM to make it all the way through). I was honestly thinking, "No... that didn't just happen... He's gotta get out of that ice somehow... Right?" I couldn't believe it (just like the ending, it blew me away).

Does anyone else feel this way?

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Actually, Pauline wasn't the only person who paid Silence to kill people (in fact, Pauline never paid him the $1000. Pollygut wanted her to sleep with him in exchange for the money, which she was not willing to do. So she basically said that Silence could have her instead of the $1000.)
The outlaws up in the mountains had paid Silence to kill the bounty hunters who were after him. The old woman, (mother of the young man that is killed by the bounty hunter with Loco at the beginning, posing as lawyers--sorry I don't remember his name) gives Silence her son's horse as payment to kill the bounty hunter who killed him, saying it's the only thing she has to pay him with.
I got the impression that was just what Silence did. He went around killing people for money (mostly bounty hunters, since they had killed his parents and made him mute). What supposedly distinguished him from the bounty hunters was that he was more ethical in deciding who to kill. The old woman says something to the effect of 'I know you, and that you fight for the weak against injustice.' Even Loco says 'He's trying to build a better world by/using his gun.' (At least he does in the Italian version. I know the dialogue is a little different in the English.)
I think the ending does suggest that Silence was actually quite noble. He must have suspected that Loco would cheat somehow (never mind that he was already badly hurt) but he went anyway, because he had to try to save all those people. You could argue that he was just particularly dumb and actually thought Loco would give him a fair fight, but I can't think of anything that suggests he was stupid.
I do think the Sheriff was a particularly noble character, though. He could have just sat back and stayed out of all this stuff that was going on, but he took his job seriously, which is why Loco killed him.

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Yeah, I'm just saying that I think that the sheriff was the MOST noble character. Silence was probably next in line for that position though.

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I can agree with that--that the sheriff is the 'most' noble. It's actually interesting in light of most of the other spaghetti westerns I've seen, where the sheriffs tend to be cowardly, ignoble and/or downright corrupt.

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The most noble character, yeah. But I wouldn’t say the only noble character. Silence was noble too, the way he didn’t kill unless the other person drew first. And Silence walked into his death in an attempt to save people, no?

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I agree. Silence’s gun hand was injured and he knew he was walking into a trap. He had a chance to leave town and start a new life somewhere with Pauline, but he would have never been able to live with himself. Great Italian film, and I don’t think Hollywood would have the balls to make something like this today.

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