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Chapter 7
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 the middle of the afternoon, Call pulls Deets, Pea Eye, Dish, and Newt off the well digging, telling them to rest up so they can go on a raid into Mexico after sunset. Newt, feeling himself included in the Captain’s orders, can barely contain his excitement. Finally, it seems, he will be allowed to go along.
As his plan to leave solidifies, it becomes necessary for Call to include Newt—they can’t abandon the teenager in Lonesome Dove. The raid is a good chance for him to start to prove his worth and his mettle.
Themes
Two riders approach from the east. They stop for a minute to read the sign Augustus painted, over the course of a few years, on an old door. Initially, it said, “Hat Creek Cattle Company and Livery Emporium”—Augustus put ‘Emporium’ there just to impress people with his education—along with his name and Call’s (his first, because he’s the older of the two). Pea Eye and Deets got their names added later when they complained. Next, Augustus specified that they rent horses and rigs (actually, one rig that used to belong to Xavier Wanz) and they sell horses and cows. Then, he added that they don’t trade in goats (which he hates) or donkeys (which Call hates) and that they never consider renting out their pigs. Finally, he added a Latin motto he copied from a book even though he doesn’t know what it means.
The sign communicates a lot more than just the words written on it. First and foremost, it broadcasts Gus’s boastful character, his sense of humor, and his willingness to do anything to provoke others into conversation (or argument). The disconnect between the grand-sounding “Livery Emporium” and the reality of the business—they have one broken-down rig and no cows at the moment—highlights the rough-and-tumble aspect of life on the frontier. And it speaks to the American ideal of a person’s merit mattering more than incidentals like their skin color. Deets is a full member of the company because the others care more about his character and his abilities than his skin color, even at a time when opportunities were limited for Black Americans. Historically speaking, Deets is based on Bose Ikard, a formerly enslaved man who later became a cowboy. Ikard was just one of many formerly enslaved and free-born Black Americans who went west in the late 19th century in search of autonomy and opportunity.
Themes
Finally, the two strangers approach the men, introducing themselves as trail boss Wilbarger and his right-hand man Chick. Wilbarger explains that some Mexican bandits stole his outfit’s remuda (a herd of horses that provides the animals the cowboys ride each day) a few days earlier, and he’s looking to pick up 40 fresh mounts so that they can drive their cattle north to Kansas. They very obviously don’t have 40 horses ready for sale, so the men direct him to the house to discuss business with the Captain. Chick lingers, asking the men to point him toward the “whorehouse.” He’s heard they have a very pretty blonde sex worker in town. Dish claims that Lorena is his sister and suggests that Chick leave her alone. Visibly alarmed, Chick turns toward the house.
Although things have quieted down in Texas since the end of the Mexican-American war, the theft of the horses shows the limitations of the law in isolated places like the borderlands. Chick and Dish argue over Lorena as if her fate is theirs to decide, and neither treats her as an autonomous human being. Dish puts himself into the midst of her business affairs because he loves her and would like to keep her for himself. In this way, he objectifies her as much as Chick.
Themes
Once Chick has left, Newt peppers Pea Eye and Deets with questions about the raids. Deets has taken Newt under his wing, especially since Newt so obviously wants to please the Captain but the Captain is so tightfisted with praise.
The fact that Newt craves Call’s praise most of all might just have to do with the fact that he’s the de facto leader of the outfit (even if Gus’s name is first on the sign). But it also hints that there might be a stronger connection between the two. In the light of the Captain’s hardness, Deets becomes the closest father surrogate Newt has.
Themes
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Dish ambles into town, intent on visiting Lorena. He approaches the Dry Bean from the back, and before he’s even through the door, he can hear that she’s already got a customer. Anger and jealousy flood over him. Assuming that her customer is Chick, he takes out his gun and prepares to shoot his rival. But then he realizes that Chick’s horse isn’t in front of the saloon. He has no idea who Lorena is with. And neither Xavier nor Lippy is around to ask. In consternation, Dish walks down to the river, where he sits and contemplates his life for an hour. When he returns, Xavier and Lippy have reappeared and Lorena sits at a table with Jake Spoon, sharing a glass of whiskey. Jake invites Dish to join them. Dish does, but with a strange feeling of vertigo, like he no longer understands his place in the world.
Any sense that Dish might have been trying to protect Lorena from Chick—as opposed to selfishly keeping her all to himself—vanishes when he hears her with another customer. Dish thought he could control Lorena’s actions, but he learns now, much to his chagrin, that he can’t control her actions—nor can he control her heart, which she seems to have given to Jake Spoon. Certainly, their easy intimacy in the saloon suggests as much to Dish. Notably, the book rebukes his assumption that he can control Lorena early on, suggesting that female characters will be in control of their own fate, not just objects for men to enjoy and control.
Themes
