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Chapter 76
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
July’s run of bad luck continues even after he leaves Dodge City. His horse injures itself and must be shot. July walks back into Dodge City to buy another. One night, a snake bites him in his sleep. His leg swells up and he becomes delirious, but after five days, he’s recovered enough to keep riding. Three days after that, he reaches the Platte River in Nebraska, where he comes upon a frame house sitting on the prairie. An old Mexican hand rides up and introduces himself as Cholo. He invites July to stop at the house.
No matter how bad his luck gets, July Johnson just keeps going. This speaks to his methodical nature—he knows by now that it’s pointless to find Ellie, but he can’t stand to leave the task incomplete. And it almost seems like another piece of bad luck that he doesn’t die in the process, because finding her is just going to bring him more suffering. Notably, his luck changes when he reaches Clara’s home, which is increasingly becoming a beacon of hope on the northern prairies.
Themes
As July rides up to the house, he hears Clara scolding Sally and Betsey for making a ruckus, waking her—and Elmira’s baby, whom she’s named Martin—up. But she’s calm and kind when she turns to July and invites him in for some food. He shocks her when he introduces himself as July Johnson, from Arkansas. Luke had mentioned that name in connection with Emira when they passed through three weeks earlier. It pains Clara to realize that Martin must be July’s son, because she’s grown so attached to the baby. After a moment, she gently tells July that Elmira stopped by recently on her way to Ogallala. The news that Ellie is alive and safe brings July to tears.
Fate or luck intervenes in a powerful way by bringing July to Clara’s door so soon after Elmira’s visit. Readers can also see how adeptly Clara makes a family. July assumes Martin is her baby because for all intents and purposes, he is. Since it seems unlikely that Elmira will change her tune and decide to go home with July, this suggests that his only hope at finding belonging and happiness lies with Clara, too, even though he’s still too focused on Ellie to see it.
Themes
Clara waits for July to regain his composure before breaking the news about Martin. He is dumbfounded; Ellie never said anything about a baby. But Clara quickly assures him that the timing adds up, since he and Ellie were married about 10 months earlier. The hearty meal Clara feeds July revives him a bit. She offers him a bath and a bed for the night, as Ogallala is 20 miles away. Cleaned up a bit, she sees, July is a handsome—if careworn—man. She likes him.
There’s a marked difference between what Clara handles as a matter of course and what July can tolerate—and although some of July’s shock and confusion may be excused by the difficult journey he’s had, the book has also made it abundantly clear that despite his methodical and determined approach to life, he’s not a very strong-willed person. Clara likes him, but the book strongly suggests that unless he can clean up his act as much as his appearance, he’ll never be able to match her strength or resilience.
Themes
