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Chapter 44
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
Lorena finds Augustus’s presence comforting after two days alone—and after enduring days of Jake’s resentment before he left. Realizing that yet another man fooled her into thinking he cared makes her sad. She even considered going back to Xavier. Augustus notices her low mood. But he still asks her to cut cards for her services. She offers to play blackjack for it but wonders what she would win—since he hasn’t staked money this time. Augustus says if she wins, he’ll be her “whore” instead. She doesn’t understand why; she’s never enjoyed sex.
Lorena has shown herself to be brave and resilient on the trail, but the sad and simple truth is that it’s too dangerous for her to travel alone. If she can’t get Jake to take her to San Francisco, she’s better off going back to Lonesome Dove and trying with Xavier. Readers can refer to Elmira’s story (most of which comes later) to understand the dangers and difficulties of solo travel as a female.
Themes
In fact, as Augustus realizes, Lorena has enjoyed very little in her life. He tells her she would be happier if she found a way to enjoy the little things. She doesn’t answer, and Gus holds her hand in silence for several minutes. Then he strips down to his holey long underwear and plunges into a nearby waterhole for a swim.
Gus enjoys sex, and it’s clear that he’d enjoy having sex with Lorena now. When she was a sex worker, paying her for it was a fair exchange. But now, in light of her depression, his pleasure seems empty. So he encourages her to find some pleasure elsewhere—anywhere—both in words and actions.
Themes
Afterwards, as he dries off in the sun, Augustus sees someone in the distance—his eyesight has always been unusually keen—riding toward them. It turns out to be a big Indigenous man, who stops at the waterhole so he and his horse can drink. It’s a tense encounter. The man’s name is Blue Duck. He and Augustus know each other by reputation. Blue Duck spent years attacking settlers and stealing horses across Texas, at least until the Comanches were forced onto a reservation.
Blue Duck represents everything that Gus and Call fought against as Texas Rangers. He’s a member of one of the nations they helped forced off their land to clear the way for settlers. And he’s an outlaw to boot. Elsewhere, mostly through Gus, the book hints at regret over the violence with which American soldiers and settlers displaced and killed Indigenous people, although it never fully reckons with the weight of this history. In this vein, it places an Indigenous man as its chief antagonist, focusing on his individual crimes without acknowledging their potential connection to Indigenous nations’ armed resistance to occupation and displacement. This in turn ends up playing into the very stereotypes of Indigenous people as violent and savage which it elsewhere seems to refute.
Themes
After Blue Duck rides off, Augustus regrets not just shooting him. The man presents a serious threat to the cattle drive and—more immediately—to Lorena. He tells her she should move closer to the cow camp for safety, but she insists on waiting for Jake. Worried that Jake can’t protect her even if he does return, Gus plans to send someone else to guard her. Lorena feels helpless, and she desperately begs Gus to just take her to California. He gently answers that he’s headed to Ogalalla to find Clara, but that if they make it to Denver, he will buy her a train ticket.
The episode with Blue Duck sets up a quiet justification for the violent logic of American expansion. Gus has no reason to kill Blue Duck. But by letting him live, he potentially allows further violence and mayhem to happen. Living and at large, this Indigenous man (and by extension, potentially all Indigenous men) are dangerous, and settlers can only contain the threat they pose by killing them. It also exposes the harsh realities of the era’s gender dynamics. No matter what she does, Lorena’s safety and her plans remain subject to the whims of the men around her.
Themes
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