Abstract:
During the period between 1932 and 1934, it is believed that Charles Arthur "Pretty Boy" Floyd gained support from a large portion of the American public. This support is believed to be a result of the frequency in which articles relating to him appeared in contemporary newspaper and the subsequent sources relating to Floyd in the years after his death. This thesis intends to illustrate how the myth surrounding Floyd was shaped and driven by a narrative produced by the contemporary newspaper coverage of his exploits during his life. The popular support for Floyd was a result of these newspapers constructing an outlaw-hero myth surrounding Floyd and his actions during his life. Along with contemporary newspaper accounts of Floyd, there has also been a number of representations and interpretations through other media forms, such as music and novels, which were produced after Floyd's death. These additional media examples show how the outlaw-hero myth, constructed during Floyd's life, continued relatively unchanged after Floyd's death. In order to showcase what about the contemporary newspaper accounts, and the subsequent sources, facilitated the myth of Floyd as an outlaw-hero, the ideas presented by folklorist Richard Meyer in his definition and construction of an outlawhero has been called upon. Using Meyer's twelve elements this thesis has analysed both contemporary newspapers such as the New York Times, The Washington Post and the East Liverpool Review, as well as cultural sources such and Woody Guthrie's ballad, Pretty Boy Floyd, the novel The Grapes of Wrath and Pretty Boy Floyd a novel. This thesis identifies how the narrative constructed around Floyd's life and his actions became that of an outlaw-hero, both in life and death.
