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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 mesquite brush thins out north of San Antonio, making life easier for the cowhands. The farther north they get, the more their campfire conversation turns to whether they’ll encounter Indigenous warriors or not. They’re struggling without a proper cook, so when they approach Austin, Gus and Call decide to ride into Austin to try to find one.
The cowhands understandably fear crossing Indian Territory (modern-day Oklahoma), where many of the Indigenous nations displaced by American settler colonialism were living. Their fear tacitly acknowledges the violence and oppression required for America to grow. And some of them—including Gus and Call, but also Pea Eye, whose guilty conscience translates into nightmares—were actively involved in the brutality.
Themes
On the way, Augustus takes a detour, and Call follows him to a small oak grove standing next to a creek with a natural pool. Call dismounts and joins Augustus under the trees, surprised to see that his friend is crying. Gus explains that he and Clara discovered this spot, and they visited frequently when he was courting her. He proposed—and she turned him down—here. He named it Clara’s Orchard. Call doesn’t understand why Gus is still so sentimental over a woman he hasn’t seen in 16 years. He tries to keep Maggie out of his mind, and he doesn’t like it when Augustus brings her up, as he does at this moment.
Call barely thinks of women at all, and he resents the only one he ever had a relationship with for her inexplicable (to him) ability to cause him to lose his self-control. In contrast, Gus’s continuing love for Clara testifies to his admiration for her as a person. The book doesn’t share—and actively criticizes—Call’s fear of feminine power. And Gus’s regret undermines his heroic image a bit, too: whatever he accomplished as a Ranger pales in comparison to the life he imagines he might have had with Clara.
Themes
Three miles from the oak grove, Call and Augustus spot Lorie’s camp. Jake left her there and went into Austin to gamble two days earlier, she tells them. Augustus dismounts and settles in to wait with her for Jake’s return. This annoys Call—he hates it when Augustus throws a plan to the wind—but he also thinks it’s unconscionable for Jake to have left Lorena alone for so long in this rough country.
In direct contrast to the enduring feelings Gus cultivates for Clara and Call experiences against his will for Maggie, it’s clear that Jake doesn’t actually care at all for Lorena. He enjoys having sex, and she’s a convenient sexual partner. He also likes being taken care of. But when she doesn’t take care of his every whim, he abandons her in a way that underscores his selfishness and lack of honor.
Themes
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Free of Augustus’s company and back on the road to Austin, Call allows the Hell Bitch to run as fast as she likes. He’s enjoying the ride, until his mind wanders. As if she’s sensed his distraction, the horse chooses that moment to buck. She nearly throws Call, but he hangs on to the reins and regains control. The Hell Bitch’s trick impresses, rather than angers, him. He’s determined to ride her across the Yellowstone River, unless something kills one of them first.
To Call, the Hell Bitch seems to symbolize women in general. They’re powerful but also dangerous, and a man like him must stay ever on his guard against their tricks, like whatever trick Maggie employed to worm into his feelings and stay there, even though she’s been dead for years. On the other hand, this episode simply further solidifies what readers know about his character. He doesn’t just face life’s challenges with stoicism. He’s actually happier when he’s doing something that’s harder than necessary.
Themes
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