The Central Library Brown Baggers book group had a lively discussion of The Ox Bow Incident by Walter Van Tilbert Clark on Thursday, November 21st.  Set in 1885 Nevada, the story unfolds over a mere 24 hours.  Reports of horse rustlers who have murdered a man incite locals to form a deputized posse of 27 men and 1 woman to hunt down the purported criminals.  The narrator has joined the posse with his partner, in part, to prove their own innocence.   As the hunt and the night unfolds, with 3 supposed rustlers surrounded and captured, enthusiasm for the task at hand varies. While some of the riders feel the rustlers should be brought back for a trial, others are ready to hang them on the spot.  

Written in 1940, just before Hitler began to wage WWII, our group found the themes of mob rule and morality relevant and timely.  Several powerful speeches are given on justice, human nature and pack mentality, which may be why this title appears on some high school reading lists. 

Was The Ox-Bow Incident a Western due to the plot and setting? Or a social study on the psychology of mob violence?

The group also discussed whether there was a sexual undertone to several plot and character turns.

Despite the tragic outcome, our readers enjoyed the book. They found the characters believable as good people who got caught up in a situation where they were either considered cowardly or violent.  

• The Ox-Bow Incident film (1943) 
• The Ox-Bow Incident: One Book, One Chicago Spring 2005
• The Ox-Bow Incident Teachers guide