While some symbolism appears in The Arizona Kid—Fletcher and Grif obviously represent the unscrupulous side of horse racing, and Billy chooses a cream colored hat over one that makes him "look like Black Bart"—the main literary qualities are humor and narrative style. Koertge uses humor in ways that appear to downplay the seriousness of some of the issues, but actually works to emphasize them. To Billy, 2762 The Arizona Kid Cara Mae's initial treatment of him is very important: She ignores him. Lew tries to insist that as he has more experience with women than Billy, and that he knows that Cara Mae really likes Billy. When she then brushes by Billy without even glancing at him, Billy responds by saying "according to your theory, she doesn't just like me. She loves me and wants to have my baby."

The humor here hides...