the narrative affirms the classic image of good versus evil in the form of a struggle of brother against brother . the main character and lin macadam and play by james stewart and represent justice and righteousness . his brother and who operate under the persona of dutch henry brown and play by stephen mcnally and stand for the classic stage coach rob western outlaw and chase by his brother for have kill their father . the world the story take place be the classic dystopian west where the only way to prevent it inhabitant from kill each other be to take away their sidearms as soon a they enter town and and the man responsible for keep this law and order be the classic western lawman wyat earp . present a well be such flat character typical of the western and such a the murderous indian warrior and the besiege cavalryman and and the bonnet clad damsel in distress . another important archetype in this film and that which give the film it name and be a custom make winchester rifle . the weapon can be view a an allegory for the reward give to those who do thing honorably . once it be steal from it rightful owner and it bring tragedy to everyone that come in contact with it . in this sense it resemble other such icon like the holy grail in raider of the lose ark and and the blood stain letter in save private ryan . this give the film an element of surrealism which be usually absent from western and a genre not know for esoteric theme and symbol . be essentially a revenge film and it share this element with many other example of the genre and such a jack arnold no name on the bullet and and clint eastwood unforgiven . there be also a tacit theme of rape in winchester 73. waco johnny dean and one of the film villain play very effectively by dan duryea and abduct a woman after kill her husband . the volatile cowboy toy with the tenderfoot husband and and dispatch him like a caricature of a cat toy with an insect before bite it head off . waco johnny dean eventually get what be come to him after come in contact with the ominous winchester rifle . the main story of winchester 73 be reminiscent of the mythological tale of jason and his quest for the golden fleece and a tell in apollonius argonautica . both story deal with the acquisition of a sacred object that possess some sort of intangible quality . like jason and stewart character hop from one adventure to the next in search of a one of a kind prize . another theme in winchester 73 that be similar to a mythic tale be the struggle between brother . several story of antiquity deal with this issue and such a the hebrew bible tale of cain and abel and and the vulgate tale of romulus and remus . a for the theme of abduction and rape present in anthony mann film and it be present in many mythological work and such a the rape of europa a tell by ovid in his metamorphosis . winchester 73 be a fine example of the western genre and and act a the objective correlative for many classic american western and ancient mythological theme .