Grandpa Hayden is to be blamed for the tragedies in the novel. It is my contention to illustrate that Grandpa Hayden's patriarchal values, his racism towards Native Americans and his corruption and abuse of power are the causes of the tragedy. Grandpa Hayden and his character traits represent evilness. It is through grandpa Hayden that Montana 1948 shows how destructive a powerful father can be.
Grandpa Hayden's patriarchal values and his need to control his sons" lives have led to the tragedies. During David's visit to his grandparent's range, he describes his grandmother as "a thin, nervous woman who seldom speaks when my grandfather was present. Pg76" This gives an indication of where women stand in the Hayden family and how much respect is paid to Julian. Grandpa Hayden is a patriarch and a dominating man, he has a lot of influence in the lives of Wes and Frank. Julian made Wes the sheriff to retain his power in Montana, this made Wes" life very difficult and miserable. His favouritism towards Frank made him an arrogant and evil person. The type of person Frank had become and the awful experience that Wes is forced to go through are the negative effects of a patriarchal society. Julian holds women in a low regard, he believes the role of women is to cook and obey their husbands. This affected the way in which his sons, especially Frank view women. Therefore, it can be seen that the tragedy is caused by Julian's patriarchal values and its influences on Wes and Frank.
Julian's racial prejudice towards the Native Americans is a main cause of the tragedy. Grandpa Hayden shows his racist attitude towards Native Americans when he turns up at Wes" house demanding him to free Frank in part three. He says "Screwing an Indian. Or feeling her up or whatever. You don't lock up a man for that. Pg 120" This illustrates Julian's racism, he believes that Indians are inferior to them and that they do not need to be given the same rights as white Americans.