Shane discussion

What problems does one of the characters have, and how does he or she solve it?
A problem that is faced in this book is that a man named Fletcher is out to obtain the land from all the farmers in Wyoming. With a mysterious, heroic man named Shane around, the town depends on him to stop Fletcher and save the day.

In a paragraph, state the main idea or theme of the book
I believe a theme in this story is friendship/loyalty as Joe Starrett was dependent upon his newly met friend Shane to save the town in Wyoming. As the two bonded together throughout the book by removing a tree stump, eating together, and living together, they had both grown a close relationship with each other. Because of their close relationship, you would expect they each had one-another's backs, which is proven true when Shane goes out in the end to stop Fletcher and Stark WIlson (the bad guy and his accomplice).

Did you like the way the story ended? Why or why not?
Personally, I liked the way the story ended as the "good guys" ended up defeating the "bad guys". After Shane had his amazing shot up at the building at Fletcher, he ended up leaving the town saying "there's no going back from a killing". His disappearance after his heroic action results in the mystery of his character, but It's always nice to see the good guys win.

FOr me the main theme is overcoming some inner trouble / turmoil. For the boy in the story (Bobby?) it is growing up, for Joe Starret it is understanding that he may be the most important thing in his world but less in the bigger scale of things, for Shane it is that he is a killer but even killers can use their talents to do good, for the wife it was how to remain faithful in a dull existence / marriage in the face of exciting temptation. For Chris it was understanding right and wrong. But only the "goodies" in the book had their challenges to overcome - Wilson was an empty character, as was Fletcher. I love this book, and have read it several times. It is a damn good Western story, but much more, and some of the prose just sticks in the memory (I remember it as if it was yesterday.....°