Perhaps the most interesting and important element of hegemony is the ability of dominant groups to refigure oppositional figures, cultures, and motifs so they end up reinforcing the leadership of the dominant groups. One striking example of this is the way in which the rebel in U.S. myth is made over into a supporter of the status quo. We see a particularly vivid case of this process in the Travis McGee novels of John D. MacDonald. It is a commonplace to note that the popular culture figure of the lone rebel has long been crucial to American mythology. From the cowboy to the private detective, from the gangster to the robber baron, from the Lone Ranger to V. 1. Warshawski, from John Wayne as Ringo to Sylvester Stallone as Rambo, the American hero has tended to be alienated from society, driven by a personal, moral code rather than a societal one. Unlike Sherlock Holmes and James Bond, who openly work to maintain the systems of nation and empire, the American hero operates without the protection of society, owes it little allegiance, and stands outside it as critic, by example if not articulated politics. This poses something of a paradox. While the function of mythology is to buttress the dreams and ideals of a nation or dominant class, rebels, by definition, seem to perform a contrary role, that of criticism and dissent. But do they? Or is the American rebel made over? Can the rebel be captured, turned, and put in the service of capitalism and empire? The politics of the Travis McGee novels of John D. MacDonald offer some insight into this process of harnessing the rebel and turning him from rebel to reactionary, from dissenter to supporter. MacDonald's adventure-detective series featuring the hero Travis McGee has been an extremely successful creation. Published between the years 1964 and 1986, all twenty-one volumes are still in print and are the subject of several books and articles that examine the hero from a wide range of perspectives. The politics of McGee, however, have been little investigated. This is not surprising, for there is virtually no mention of political events such as elections, legislation, or conventions, and the hero's distaste for politics is one of the consistent themes of the novels. Lewis A Moore has undertaken some fruitful exploration by suggesting that politics can be understood as more than international crises, domestic issues, electoral behaviour, administration, or party membership. Instead, he argues, we must tighten the focus to define politics as people combining together for a common purpose, and that in this sense, there is a political content and theme to the novels.' I believe it is also useful to widen the focus to see how McGee thinks about the larger structures of class and capitalism in the United States. This article will first argue why it is plausible to study the character in this way. Second, it will sketch an outline of McGee's politics, and third, it will try to explain why he has the politics he does. The need to examine McGee's larger politics comes directly from the depiction of the character as rebel and from John D. MacDonald's explicit use of the character to comment critically on the United States. While crime writers since Dashiell Hammett have always infused their hero with a moral code that was often in conflict with that of the larger society, this was rarely overt or detailed. In sharp contrast, McGee regularly delivers soliloquies on the evils of contemporary America. These range from environmental destruction and real estate speculation to the watering of consumer goods and drug use. This overt concern with morality and society has been appreciated by critics as an important part of the novels (Hirshberg 121-23). It is the hero as self-conscious rebel that makes McGee unique and provides much of the motivation for his actions. It also supplies clues to his politics. For rebels must rebel against something. To the extent that they are critical of events, trends, and developments in society, rebels are political, regardless of the level of their political awareness or the depth of their analysis. …