The+Ox-Bow+Incident

//The Ox-Bow Incident// is the very best text I know to highlight the terrible pitfalls of being a bystander. It underscores the sin of omission in moving, powerful, and painful ways. One important and ongoing activity is to have students note the things that our narrator, Art Croft says and does, and the things that he thinks. He has a deep and sophisticated intellect and a strong conscience, but he does not act on it.

As a western set in 1885, it is especially important, I think, to connect the text and its ideas to other, more modern texts. One especially effective text is an episode of This American Life called Here's a link: [|Mob Mentality]