In The Tin Star, Cunningham employs the theme of freedom in his main character Doane in order to convey the strange duality of the nature of freedom. In the short story, the sheriff discusses his opinions about the job with his coworker Toby. He describes the nature of the job as being low paid and high risk, and all of this makes the job feel as if they are working for free. However, he explains how this makes him feel as free as a lark: “I like it free. You know what I mean? You don't get a thing for it. You've got to risk everything. And you're free inside. Like the larks. [...] That's…