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Chapter 3
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
Augustus straps his Colt pistol to his leg and strolls down to the Dry Bean. When he arrives, Lippy Jones is playing his favorite song—“My Bonnie Lies Over the Ocean”—at full volume. Dishwater Boggett, a young cowhand, is making lovesick eyes at Lorena, and Xavier Wanz, the Dry Bean’s proprietor, is fussing over the tables with his usual fastidiousness. When Augustus walks in, Dish asks for a loan of $2, having concluded that Lorena won’t entertain him on credit. Augustus invites him to play cards instead. Soon, Lippy, Xavier, and Lorena join them.
Xavier Wanz struggles to conquer—or accept—the dust and dirt that form an inescapable part of life in Lonesome Dove. The state of his saloon reminds readers of how rough life is there and suggests that attempts to impose order will be mixed at best. Yet none of this bothers Gus, who takes it in stride, ignoring inconveniences and looking for pleasures where he can find them.
Themes
Dish doesn’t want to play cards; he wants to go to bed with Lorena. But she’s barely paying him any attention, anyway. Her dour mood improves considerably while they play—she’s a competent card player, thanks to Tinkersley’s instruction—and Dish is even more in love with her than ever when he decides that he’s lost enough. Augustus follows him out into the street and, declaring that he doesn’t want to be known for refusing a friend’s request for a loan, hands him the $2 he needs to pay for Lorena’s services. This generosity confuses Dish a little, but he doesn’t refuse. Nor does he refuse Augustus’s offer to sleep at the Hat Creek Cattle Company’s porch until he leaves town on his next cattle drive. But first, trying (and failing) to act casually, he turns back toward the Dry Bean and Lorena’s inviting bedroom.
Augustus’s generosity toward Dish (even though he himself has a soft spot for Lorena) speaks to his character. An easygoing man, he isn’t prone to jealousy. Still, he shrewdly managed the evening so that he got what he wanted, too: several rounds of cards with competent and interested players. Likewise, Lorena finds pleasure where she can in her life, like winning a few hands. It’s clear that Dish is infatuated with Lorena, but it's equally clear that he has no future with her: she’s uninterested in him as a person—unlike Gus, who she at least feels friendly toward.
Themes
