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Xavier Wanz
Sean O’Brien is an Irishman who immigrates to the United States with his older brother, Allen. Call, McCrae, and the rest of the Hat Creek boys discover them in Mexico and escort them safely north of the border, after which they join the cattle drive as hired hands. Sean and Newt quickly become good friends, and the entire company appreciates Sean’s beautiful singing voice, even if his songs are melancholy—something that has a lot to do with the fact that he’s a crybaby, according to his brother Allen. Sean dies when the company crosses the Nueces River in southern Texas, where he is attacked by extremely poisonous water moccasin snakes.
Sean O’Brien Quotes in Lonesome Dove
The Lonesome Dove quotes below are all either spoken by Sean O’Brien or refer to Sean O’Brien . For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Chapter 18
Quotes
It seemed the Irishmen were part of the outfit, though. Their total inexperience was offset by an energy and a will to learn that impressed even Call. He let them stay in the first place, because he was so short-handed he couldn’t afford to turn away any willing hand. By the time more competent men arrived the Irishmen had gotten over their fear of horses and worked with a will. Not being cowboys, they had no prejudice against working on the ground. Once shown the proper way to throw a roped animal, they cheerfully flung themselves on whatever the ropers drug up to the branding fire, even if it was a two-year-old bull with lots of horn and a mean disposition. They had no great finesse, but they were dogged and would eventually get the creature down.
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Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 35
Quotes
“Well, I’ll say a word,” Augustus said. “This was a good, brave boy, for we all saw that he conquered his fear of riding. He had a fine tenor voice, and we’ll all miss that. But he wasn’t used to this part of the world. There’s accidents in life and he met with a bad one. We may all do the same if we ain’t careful.”
He turned and mounted old Malaria. “Dust to dust,” he said. “Let’s the rest of us go to Montana.”
He’s right, Call thought. The best thing to do with a death was to move on from it. One by one the cowboys mounted and went off to the herd, many of them taking a quick last look at the muddy grave under the tree.
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Sean O’Brien Quotes in Lonesome Dove
The Lonesome Dove quotes below are all either spoken by Sean O’Brien or refer to Sean O’Brien . For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Chapter 18
Quotes
It seemed the Irishmen were part of the outfit, though. Their total inexperience was offset by an energy and a will to learn that impressed even Call. He let them stay in the first place, because he was so short-handed he couldn’t afford to turn away any willing hand. By the time more competent men arrived the Irishmen had gotten over their fear of horses and worked with a will. Not being cowboys, they had no prejudice against working on the ground. Once shown the proper way to throw a roped animal, they cheerfully flung themselves on whatever the ropers drug up to the branding fire, even if it was a two-year-old bull with lots of horn and a mean disposition. They had no great finesse, but they were dogged and would eventually get the creature down.
Related Characters:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 35
Quotes
“Well, I’ll say a word,” Augustus said. “This was a good, brave boy, for we all saw that he conquered his fear of riding. He had a fine tenor voice, and we’ll all miss that. But he wasn’t used to this part of the world. There’s accidents in life and he met with a bad one. We may all do the same if we ain’t careful.”
He turned and mounted old Malaria. “Dust to dust,” he said. “Let’s the rest of us go to Montana.”
He’s right, Call thought. The best thing to do with a death was to move on from it. One by one the cowboys mounted and went off to the herd, many of them taking a quick last look at the muddy grave under the tree.
