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Chapter 33
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Lonesome Dove, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
American Mythology
Family
Luck, Fate, and Chance
The Good Life
The Meaning of Masculinity
Feminine Strength
Summary
Analysis
When Augustus rides to camp on Lorena’s horse—which he found wandering around after the storm, she’s hanging her things on a bush to dry in the morning sun. Now that the storm has passed, she feels invigorated and happy. Jake is out, searching (ineffectually) for the horse, and when he returns, he’s displeased to find Gus. As soon as their stuff is dry, he wants to go to San Antonio for a bit. Lorena reiterates her desire to go to San Francisco, or at least Denver, instead. Testily, Jake answers that he doesn’t want to wait so long to gamble. When she refuses again, he slaps her. Defiant (although a little embarrassed that Gus witnessed the fight), Lorena walks off to start packing. After Gus leaves, Jake chides Lorena for provoking him. She doesn’t care—and she refuses to let his anger bother her.
For the third time, a Hat Creek man—in this case, Gus—comes to Lorena’s rescue after Jake fails her in some important way. The fact that Gus finds the horse while Jake is actively looking for it adds insult to injury and declares in no uncertain terms that Lorena would be better off relying on Gus rather than Jake. Jake’s jealousy, his selfishness, his violence, and the lack of self-awareness that allows him to slap Lorena in front of Gus all confirm what she already knows. But by now, she feels confident that he needs her more than she needs him, and this merely increases her resolve to see the journey through, with or without him.
Themes
