Cali Joe

The dime novel California Joe when read gives the feeling that the story is being told by a old story teller around the fire. This feeling coupled with the fact that the story starts with the question "Who is California Joe?" and then no answer proceeds makes Joe like a mythical figure who seems to be only half real. This is enforced when he is first introduced as a "strange being and his ghost like horse" The mystery about him kind of dehumanizes him to were even when he helps the caravan get back on the right track the people think of him as a spook and are willing to depart from the path he is leading them on. When he does reveal himself fully the people are still fearful because he enters the camp on horseback without a guard seeing him. Yet this fear melts away when the people look upon his face. Joe also seems to have a very capable military mind this is shown when he and Captain Reynolds are making a plan to hold off against the braves. With this last weird event it seems like the author has given Joe mythical powers/qualities that a demi god in Greek literature would have. His dress though reminds me of another hero of the west Zorro. The book describes him as dressed completely in black sitting on a white horse. This is almost identical to a description of Zorro the only thing that is different is that Zorro's steed is a black instead of white. This story so far to me seems like a collection of existing hero archetypes in a new setting.