This is the annotated version of the book Riders of the Purple Sage. We annotated it by adding a summary of approximately 55000 words at the end of the book in Red font.
The Brief Description of the book is written as follows:-
Riders of the Purple Sage is a Western novel by Zane Grey, first published by Harper & Brothers in 1912. Considered by scholars to have played a significant role in shaping the formula of the popular Western genre, the novel has been called ‘the most popular western novel of all time.’
Plot[edit]
Riders of the Purple Sage is a story about three main characters, Bern Venters, Jane Withersteen, and Jim Lassiter, who in various ways struggle with persecution from the local Mormon community led by Bishop Dyer and Elder Tull in the fictional town of Cottonwoods, Utah.
Jane Withersteen, a born-and-raised Mormon, provokes Elder Tull because she is attractive, wealthy, and befriends ‘Gentiles’ (non-Mormons), namely, a little girl named Fay Larkin, a man she has hired named Bern Venters, and another hired man named Lassiter. Elder Tull, a polygamist[3] with two wives already, wishes to have Jane as a third wife, along with her estate.
The story involves cattle-rustling, horse theft, kidnapping, and gunfights.
Setting[edit]
The setting is Southern Utah canyon country, 1871. The influx of Mormon settlers from 1847 to 1857 serves as a backdrop for the plot. The Mormons had been living in Kirtland, Ohio in the 1830s, but ventured west to escape persecution, Mormons being unpopular.
Point-of-view[edit]
The story is told from an anonymous third-person, omniscient point-of-view. The narrator reports what the characters say and how they feel, even when they are alone. For example: ‘On this night the same old loneliness beset Venters…'[4]
Characters[edit]
Jane Withersteen
Wealthy owner and operator of the considerable Withersteen ranch, her father having founded and established the estate. Miss Withersteen sympathizes with both Mormons (her own people) and Gentiles, which gets her into trouble with the local bishop and elder.
Bern Venters
Venters is a non-Mormon in the employ of Miss Withersteen. As the story opens he is in a very poor state, being persecuted by the local Mormons. However, Venters is very able with firearms and horses, and he is determined not to be beaten.
Jim Lassiter
Lassiter is a gunfighter on a mysterious mission that brings him to Cottonwoods and Miss Withersteen. He is a non-Mormon and furthermore has no creed except his own way.
Bess/Elizabeth Erne
Bess has been raised by Oldring and his band of rustlers; she has very little memory of her mother. She is known as the Masked Rider.
Elder Tull
Tull practices ‘plural marriage’ and desires to marry Jane Withersteen. He also wants to drive Bern Venters and Lassiter out of town and out of the region.
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