3:10 to Yuma tells the
story of notorious outlaw Ben Wade and the journey he makes from a stage
coach to a train. The stage coach is owned by a wealthy railroad company and is
transporting cash the company has earned. The train is also owned by the
railroad, and it is heading to a city with a federal prison. Ben Wade robs
the coach (his 22nd robbery of this same railroad company), but willingly
hands over his famous pistol called The Hand Of God, and on his own Wade
gets on the train and heads off to Yuma prison without anyone making him.
Dan Evans was part of the hired posse charged with getting Wade on the train. Dan is a poor, one-legged, struggling rancher whose wife and eldest son do not respect him or
consider him heroic. But when the opportunity to get paid a large sum by the railroad for
transporting Wade to the prison train, Evans has no choice but to volunteer for the mission. The journey is not
easy at first, and Wade is both ruthless and unrepentant. Talking about his life's work, Wade at one point even declares, "It's man's nature to take
what he wants, Dan." But toward the end of the movie, when Wade has the upper hand and can end his
captivity in an instant, Evans tells Wade that he is not only not a hero, but his life is
somewhat, up to that point, disgraceful. Wade agrees and then takes over, leading Dan Evans to the train,
and voluntarily getting on the train, for Dan and the sake of his family.
Questions for
discussion
What do think of the Marshal's argument that you only have to fight evil if it's a fair fight?
And when is facing evil EVER a fair fight?
What is a hero? What is a heroic action?
What is the significance of the boy William choosing not to shoot Ben Wade?
Why do people change, if ever?
(Why does Wade kill his own men? Why does he get on the train in the end?)
The Evans boy claims that people--even Wade--are not all bad; how is he right
and how is he wrong?
What does the backdrop of the Wild West lend to heroic tales? How does that
setting help tell tales like this?
How does the movie tie into Conan O'Brien's address to Dartmouth? (Who failed? Who didn't? Who uses a failure for a reinvention?)
Verses to use in the discussion
Romans 15:1-2; John 3:17; Romans 12:6-8; Philippians 4:8-9; Proverbs 19:1;
Leviticus 19:18; 1 Corinthians 16:13-14; 2 Corinthians 5:17; John 3:3
What would make you care about cheating?
