Was he really a killer of women and children, or was that just a prairie legend/exaggeration of an admittedly ruthless drunkard?
Yes, he really was. It wasn't legend, it was fact. He admits his sins.
So why are we talking about this? Because it's William Munny's story we are watching. If this same exact story was told from Little Bill's perspective, we'd be sad for Little Bill being killed (along with half his deputies) by a known killer of women and children who came into his town as a hired assassin.
But we see all of Munny's story, from his being a no good scoundrel and killer of women and children turned into a good, decent, and pious man for the love of a good woman. We also see him as a widower trying to raise two children into good humans who decides to take a paying job killing two men who butchered a woman so he can feed and otherwise provide a better life for his kids.
We like Munny, and we still don't hate him when he flips after his best friend is whipped to death and he takes revenge on the sheriff and deputies. That's the brilliance of this story
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