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Chapter 34
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
The cattle company makes their way slowly toward the river. Many of the cowhands, including Newt and Jasper, dread the crossing, but soon the mosquitos have made them so miserable they’re ready to face any danger to escape. One cow gets stuck in every thicket she comes across, and Newt must chase her out every time. As they ride, Dish asks Gus about Lorena and Jake. Gus handles Dish’s feelings gently. The boy is young, and who knows if he’ll live long enough to fall in love ever again? A lot can happen on the trail. Besides, Dish’s feelings for Lorena remind Augustus of his own feelings for Clara. He hasn’t gotten over her or the matter-of-fact way she dumped him for Bob. Still, she told him she wanted to stay friends, and for him to visit her in the future so her children could be his friends.
The cattle dive continues to give Newt ample opportunity to develop the patience, persistence, and skill that mark the men he looks up to. He’s on track to mature into adulthood by the time they reach Montana. Meanwhile, Gus and Dish talk about Lorena. Gus’s sensitivity to Dish’s feelings reflects his innate understanding of people’s characters, but it also suggests that he understands suffering all too well. This chapter delves more into their history and shows readers a glimpse of a woman who is just as strong and self-assured as any of the book’s male protagonists.
Themes
Things seem to be going very well indeed when they reach the river, which is muddy but still smooth. Newt is scared to cross, but it’s over before he knows it. But then, Sean’s screams cut through the air. Halfway across the river, he ran into a swarm of poisonous water moccasin snakes, and they attacked. The Captain, Pea Eye, Gus, and Deets plunge into the river, beating off the snakes, and while they manage—eventually—to grab Sean and carry him to the shore, all they can do is sit with the boy while he dies.
Just as things seem to be going well, fate throws a curveball at the company and Sean O’Brien loses his life practically before it’s even begun. His death is a painful reminder of the dangers on the trail and the ephemeral nature of life. And as hard as it is, it also gives the men of the company a chance to demonstrate their own humanity as they comfort Sean in his dying moments.
Themes
Everyone else—including Bolivar and Lippy in the wagon—make it across without incident, and the cowhands circle up the cattle that began to wander off in the confusion. Sean’s death shocks Allen, who feels responsible for bringing Sean, the baby of the family, all this way just for him to die. Pea Eye and Deets dig a grave beneath an oak tree and gently place Sean’s body in it. Allen starts to sing a song but breaks down in tears before he can finish it, so Augustus gives the eulogy. He commends Sean for his bravery and mourns the bad turn of fate that cost the boy his life. And then, the company has no choice but to remount their horses and press onward.
Allen’s surprise reinforces the power of fate. Sean survived so much already in his life: a drunken and violent father, a dangerous sea crossing, getting lost in Mexico. But none of that matters when his time to die comes. That’s the crux of Augustus’s brief sermon, which summarizes neatly his (and Call’s) foundational belief about life: what happens, happens. How one deals with it might change from person to person, but it’s useless to try and fight the inevitable. The only way to go is forward.
Themes
