Not Choosing's a Choice, Too

One of the things that interests me about West of Sundown is the bond between Dooley and Rosa. Or, more accurately, what everyone else believes is the bond between Dooley and Rosa.

In issue 3, when Dooley tries to explain to Mr. Manor it wasn't his call to buy out Manor's loans to the bank and oust him from his saloon, Manor replies with the above argument. In issue 5, after most of the cast have settled down in Del Moro, Griffin has his own theory. It boils down to much the same, that being Rosa's Reinfeld is Dooley's way of absolving himself of making choices, or at least the guilt of making choices.

I'm not sure Griffin, who seems very excited at the opportunity to dissect people, has any grounds to judge anyone else. I imagine he would argue that he makes his own choices and accepts responsibility for them, and that's the difference between he and Dooley.

The question is whether either of them are correct. Dooley wanted out of the Civil War, something he seemingly got dragged into without any interest in it. Rosa offered him that, and so Dooley serves her in exchange. He guides her to people to eat, but tries to make it criminals. A robber baron who let child workers burn in his factory. A bunch of outlaws who think he's transporting something valuable and try to rob him. 

In that sense, Griffin's right. Dooley feeds these guys to the beast, and rationalizes it by saying God would 'bring charges' against them. Griffin is wrong that Dooley does this without guilt. It's clear even in the first issue that he seems troubled by what he's party to. Granted, that's after having traveled with Rosa for a solid decade, but that it's the first time we see it, doesn't mean it's the first time. So maybe Griffin was projecting there. He does not come off as someone who feels guilt about anyone he may have cut up or operated on over the years.

Is Manor right that Dooley doesn't want to make choices, and would rather someone else tell him its OK to do what he wants? Again, maybe on the first part, but not on the second. I think if Dooley truly wanted to kill people he considered evil, he would just do it, rather than waste time justifying it by claiming God would agree. And he has opportunities to shoot people at different times and does not take the shots. Griffin during the fight in town, Herman Jung in the final battle at the ranch. He opts to hit each of them with the rifle instead. He only shoots Jung when he's on the verge of killing Rosa.

That could be an unwillingness to lose his master, or it could be loyalty to a, I hesitate to call them friends, but it's more than an employer/employee relationship to be certain. And that situation only came about because Dooley insisted on trying to rescue the townspeople from Jung, even when Rosa walked away. That was a choice he made, and all the others - Griffin, the Monster, and eventually Rosa - followed his lead.

The thing we don't know is whether this is something that's just starting to develop, or whether it's been like this all along. Maybe Dooley has just begun to reassert himself, or question what he's doing. Possibly because for a time, he had to make the choices. During the long ship ride, Rosa was incapacitated, which meant Dooley could not rely on anyone but himself.