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The Anthropologist
The Ranch
The ranch is the childhood home of Mero Corn and his brother Rollo, and it is depicted as a hostile and unforgiving place. Throughout the story, it becomes a symbol of the inescapability of…
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The Half-Skinned Steer
The titular half-skinned steer is a manifestation of nature’s wrath, and its bloody, gruesome appearance represents the violent relationship that exists between man and the natural world. The steer is an omen from a fairytale…
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Horses
To Mero, horses are representative of sexual, animalistic passion, and their wild, untamable nature evokes fantasies of escape and conquest. When Mero remembers his father’s girlfriend, he often describes her as horse-like, and her…
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Bloody Steak
Mero Corn leaves his childhood home to make his fortune as a soldier, salesman, and politician; he is uninterested in being a cattleman on his family’s ranch. When he travels out of Wyoming, he…
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