The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance

What is the relationship between violence and civilization? How do the two main characters, Tom Doniphant and Ransom Stoddart reflect that relationship? What does the film tell us about circumstances where it becomes necessary to act with 'dirty hands' in order to preserve civilization? What does this film tell us about America's founding, and the mythologizing of our founders? How does John Ford use the character of the black man Pompey as an object lesson in the inconsistencies between American ideals and practice in regard to civil rights?