In the fictional formula that has become the American 'western', the ostensible historical account of the struggle to bring law and order to the expanding frontier seems to be a relatively unimportant façade behind which a far more ancient and universal battle rages having to do with the task of every child to master the dark forces of the Oedipus which threaten to inhibit his progression into maturity. The western story may be considered as a heroic myth in which are concealed themes of Oedipal and other conflicts. Absorption in the western story is not necessarily a regressive or purposeless pastime but may be, particularly for a child, a way of dealing with pressing unconscious conflicts. A healthy child can be expected to seek active, realistic, and satisfactory ways of solving these universal conflicts

other than those represented by the compromise of relinquishing genital maturity for the gratifications of the cowboy superman.