Who is Gerald from The Ox-Bow Incident and what is their importance?

Gerald Tetley is the son of a rancher and ex-Confederate officer. He does not enjoy ranching and would rather spend his days reading. His father, thus, is deeply ashamed, something that causes a great deal of animosity between the two of them. Many of the locals, in fact, believe that Tetley would have killed his son if not for the fact that he looked just like his mother.

Young Tetley speaks out against the hangings from the start, and he sides with Davies when a vote is taken just moments before the hangings. As a result, his father forces him to participate in Martin's hanging. Young Tetley fails in the given task, and his father is so ashamed that he hits him with his gun. Convinced he must die for his actions, young Tetley later hangs himself in his father's barn.