Who is John Marsden?

If you haven't played Red Dead Redemption. What are you waiting for?
The game is without a doubt one of Rockstars most visually stunning as well as entertaining games to date. But this piece is not about the game so much as about the man you play, John Marsden.

Of all the things the game does right, and there is allot it does great; the protagonist John Marsden is probably one of the most conflicted characters in a game I've ever played. And I'm not talking personal demons, not being at peace with himself or tough decisions.

Red Dead Redemption nails the mood atmosphere and spirit of the West nicely. But it's wayward in conveying who Mr. Marsden actually is. Yes, he is a law breaker, murderer who is now trying to right his wrongs by undoing the very man who saved him  then wronged him. Hoping that in doing so, he can get to leading an peaceful life with his wife and son. In a paragraph, that all works if not a bit cliche. One gets the feeling a Western film like Unforgiven helped build the initial frame work that is Marsden.

The game tries multiple times to explain his actions. Rationalizing the purpose for crimes with Dutch and the gang, but it rarely makes any real sense - It's almost like a childs rambling excuse to do wrong. 

Unfortunately, he's a compilation of character notes that don't flow together or series of patterns that remain an unstitched quilt. His motivations, attitudes and persona are all over the place. A compassionate heartless killer that could give a hug. Polar opposites are forced together to propagate a story line with no real consequence or lesson to be learned.

It's like Rockstar wanted to cover all the bases but ultimately delivered a less than believable character. Or Marsden is a sociopath who wants the peace of family and has zero qualms having shot up corpses to litter surrounding areas attributed to him.
 
John Marsden appears to have no reflection, repentance, remorse, or regret of his past actions beyond words. It's clear he want's to reform his life but the games handling of all that is superficial. It's a shame, as this game is very beautiful, and given just a a few short cut scenes along the way would have made a more realizable ambition and transcendence believable.