Character: Texas Jim

Overview

Texas Jim is a pivotal character in The Cheviot, the Stag and the Black, Black Oil, representing the oil industry.
Like Patrick Sellar, Texas Jim is a symbol of exploitation, embodying the notion of outside corporations depleting Scotland’s resources.

Texas Jim is characterised as boastful and gregarious, representing the confident and persuasive image of the oil industry.
He is also greedy and exploitative, willing to inflict damage on the environment and local communities to maximise profit.

As a spokesperson for outside corporations exploiting Scotland’s oil reserves, Texas Jim highlights the external control over Scotland’s resources.
He displays a callous disregard for the environment, reflecting the destructive practices of the oil industry.

Texas Jim’s interactions with the other characters serve to depict the imbalance of power between the local communities and the external corporations. He is a figure of authority and control, creating a fraught relationship with the people of the Highlands and Islands.
This power disparity mirrors the dynamic between the local population and external authorities during the Clearances, further signalling the longstanding cycles of exploitation in the region.

Texas Jim embodies the theme of Economic Exploitation in the play, highlighting how external authorities have historically depleted Scotland’s resources, offering little in return.
Through his actions, the play draws parallels between the Contemporary Injustice of the oil industry’s exploitation and the Historic Injustices of the Highland Clearances.
Texas Jim serves as a potent reminder of the cyclical nature of history, outlining how patterns of exploitation continue into the present day.