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Chapter 56
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
In Blue Duck’s camp, Dog Face lies on a blanket, dying a slow and painful death thanks to the bullet he took from July. Ermoke is dead, too. Blue Duck is furious. He tells the three remaining Kiowa crewmembers that they can have Lorena, and then he leaves them—and Monkey John and Dog Face—to face McCrae.
Although Blue Duck got closer in his assessment of Gus’s skills and determination than Gus did when tracking Blue Duck, he nevertheless underestimated Gus’s determination. This may be because Blue Duck sees no value in Lorena other than as a tool to manipulate others. He can’t understand Gus’s love.
Themes
Lorena listens to Dog Face moaning with each breath. Dog Face asks Monkey John to protect her from the others, and in response, they jump on him, pull down his pants, castrate him, stuff his genitals into his gaping mouth, and scalp him. Then they pass around a whiskey bottle. They’re drinking when Augustus and July charge into the camp. Augustus kills Monkey John and the three Indigenous men before July has the time or wherewithal to get off a shot. As soon as Gus realizes that Blue Duck has already fled, he urges July to get back to Roscoe, Joe, and Janey who are defenseless against the dangerous and bloodthirsty outlaw. He promises to follow as soon as Lorena can be moved. As July rides off, he hears one shot—Gus putting Dog Face out of his misery.
Even though they have a worthy opponent bearing down on them, the remnants of Blue Duck’s band quickly turn on each other over Lorena. Their savagery again points to the brutal realities of life on the frontier, contradicting romanticized stories of the American West. But it’s again notable that the book assigns the worst violence and savagery to the Kiowa outlaws, again playing into and reinforcing racist, anti-Indigenous stereotypes, especially in contrast to the valorization of Gus’s retributive violence. And readers should note that July is just as ineffective in a moment of real danger as his hapless attempts to pursue Jake and Ellie would suggest.
Themes
