Jan 17 2009
The Character of King Mabry in Heller With A Gun by Louis L’amour
King Mabry fairly typical of many of L’amour’s characters. The distinguishing feature of King Mabry is that he is open about being a hired gun. While he is an honest man, he has no compunction against killing or accomplishing what he needs through violence. In addition he doesn’t have a strong compunction against selling his gun though clearly he won’t sell it to just anyone. The opening sequence portrays how Mabry must ruthlessly defend himself from attack. But L’amour takes pains to point out Mabry’s mercy. He doesn’t kill his attacker, and he refuses to engage in deadly violence until he has to defend the acting troupe. This mercy humanizes Mabry in an important way. Without it the reader would have difficulty distinguishing him from any of the hundreds of outlaws and bad guys throughout L’amour’s books.
