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Chapter 57
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
Roscoe, Joe, and Janey wait anxiously in the canyon. They try to rest, but Roscoe can’t settle his mind. He doesn’t like the open and exposed Texas plains. He misses trees. He wishes July had never married Elmira and set off this complicated chain of events. Eventually, he drifts off to sleep. He wakes to a world of terror: Janey stands in front of him, a rock above her head. She throws it at a shadow standing behind Roscoe, which she begs Roscoe to shoot. In confusion, he tries to stand, but the shadow knocks him over and the pistol falls from his hand. Janey tries to get it, but the shadow smashes her head in first. Roscoe feels sleepy and peaceful, like he’s sinking into a warm bath. He doesn’t even protest when the shadow bends down and starts to unbuckle his belt.
Yet again, Roscoe finds himself worrying over the long and complicated chain of events that’s led him to this point—things that he couldn’t control but nevertheless have had power over his life (in a word, fate). The sense that so much of his life has been beyond his control makes Roscoe’s death more tragic. So does the fact that Joe is here because of his mother’s abandonment. In a stunning reversal of her recently improved fortunes, Janey survived so much horror in her life only to end up dead here. And this moment reflects backward, pointedly emphasizing how lucky Newt was not to have been in Lorena’s camp when Blue Duck arrived. This scene clearly implies not only that he would have failed to protect her, but also that he wouldn’t have even seen his death coming.
Themes
An hour later, July finds Joe, Janey, and Roscoe dead. Roscoe has been castrated. July has never felt so inadequate. Augustus didn’t need his help, and he abandoned the people who relied on him. He wishes he could turn back time. He begins to dig three shallow graves. It’s slow going because the only tool he has is his knife. He’s still at work when Augustus and Lorena ride up. Leaving Lorena where she can’t see the bodies, Augustus helps finish the job. Then, he philosophically reminds July that he can’t turn back time or predict how any of his choices will pan out. And he reminds the sheriff of how pointless revenge is. In the end, something or someone will come for Blue Duck, too. It doesn’t have to be July.
Gus stops to help July bury his dead because it’s the right thing to do, even though he’s anxious to get Lorena far away from this place. The lesson he gives to July here parallels the words he spoke when the Hat Creek crew buried Sean O’Brien so close to Lonesome Dove: no one knows what fate has in store for them, and so the best way to survive is to accept the things that come—both good and bad—as calmly as possible. No one, not even a bloodthirsty criminal like Blue Duck, is exempt from fate—or mortality.
Themes
After they’ve buried the bodies, July rides off, and soon he’s just a tiny speck in the vast plains. Augustus tells Lorie it’s time to ride. Still mute, she’s compliant and willing to look him in the eye, which he takes as a good sign. He plans to strike east and find a safe place for the cattle drive to catch up to them. By the time they do, he predicts, she’ll be feeling better. She climbs up onto Roscoe’s old horse without his help, and they set off.
The trauma that Lorena suffered has rendered her a shell of her former spunky self. But Gus doesn’t worry, in part because he trusts in her innate strength, in part for the reasons he just outlined to July. He can’t change what has happened or predict what will happen. All he can hope to do is make the best choice in the current moment. Now, that means making Lorena feel as safe as possible.
Themes
