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Chapter 92
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
Montana is just as beautiful as Jake Spoon said. Augustus finds exploring such a wild and uncivilized place exhilarating. One day, he takes Newt to scout with him. For the second time, he says something about Call being Newt’s father. This time, Newt asks him about it. He’s surprised that the Captain wouldn’t have said anything about it to him. But that doesn’t surprise Gus. He explains that Woodrow Call is a man of impossibly high standards and that he cannot stand to make a mistake. He made one when he left Maggie and his chance to live a normal life, a painful truth he's been trying to avoid ever since. Then, Gus muses on his own father, a kind man whom his mother and sisters doted on. Gus liked his father, but he—and his life—weren’t exciting enough. That’s why he went west.
As the circle of Newt’s role models shrinks, Gus finds it more important to tell the teenager about his paternity. Newt respects and looks up to the captain, but it’s also clear that he’s not great father material. He’s not kind or loving—in fact, he barely seems to have spoken to anyone since Deets’s death. This ride also gives Gus another chance to reflect on Call’s temperament for Newt’s—and readers’—benefit. And while the book admires Call’s strength and determination, through Gus, it also points out the dangers of his refusal to admit that he’s human or to acknowledge his mistakes. He’s hurt a lot of people—especially himself, Maggie, and Newt—because of this.
Themes
