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Chapter 81
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 wanders through much of the next day in a daze, unsure of what to do. He thinks he should follow Elmira—he doesn’t want to be the kind of man who just lets his wife go—but he doesn’t know what good finding her will do. Eventually, he wanders to the corrals and helps Clara and Cholo with the chore of gelding colts. The work makes him feel a little better. After lunch, Clara invites him to stay; with Bob injured—dying—she could use the help. Plus, Martin needs a father. July doesn’t know what to do and wishes he didn’t have to make a decision. He’s still sitting on Clara’s porch at dusk, though, and he follows her inside for dinner when the girls call.
Although July knows he wants to stay, he struggles to make a choice so opposed to his methodical and conventional nature. He still feels bound to Elmira even though she clearly wants nothing to do with him. And so he waits patiently for Clara to do what the women in his life (Elmira, Peach) always seem to have done: decide for him. But Clara refuses. And her refusal sets July’s next task: he must learn to think and act for himself if he wants to find meaning or happiness.
Themes
