Lonesome Dove explained
I loves me some Lonesome Dove, though it’s been a long time since I’ve seen it or read it. It’s a great American story, and whether or not it’s “literature” I think it’s worth thinking about a little bit.*
What got me thinking about Lonesome Dove was this post by Pupster at Innocent Bystanders. He was curious about Gus McCrae’s odd sign that decorated his Hat Creek Cattle Company.
That Latin bit is, like “Vero Possumus”, a bit of a linguistic oddity. Gus explains it’s there simply because it’s a “motto”, and it just means whatever it means. The gruff, practical Captain Call is unimpressed, thinking the phrase must mean something, and for all he knows it invites people to rob them.
Does it actually mean anything, though? Yes. Pupster tracked it down and found it to be a corruption of Juvenal.
This means something like “a grape changes color [i.e., ripens] when it sees [another] grape”
Or another source that suggests it means something more like “one bad apple spoils the bunch”.
Pupster was hoping for something “a little more insightful”. But I think that’s a key to the whole story.
Among several interesting characters, one of the most central is the story of Newt (Ricky Schroeder in the miniseries). He grows up not knowing who his dad was but he has fixated on the flashy, irresponsible Jake Spoon as a role model. Part of his maturation through the movie is becoming less like Jake and more like Gus and (spoiler) his real father, Captain Call. Those are the grapes that ripen Newt.
But another story, one that leads to many of the story’s tragic events, is the tale of Jake Spoon himself. Robert Urich played Jake in the miniseries, and I always thought he was miscast; he was cold and citified. It should have been Tom Selleck, someone charismatic and charming you really wanted to like, only to discover gradually through his carelessness and neglect what an empty soul Jake Spoon really had.
(Hang on, I’m going somewhere political with this, I promise.)
Spoon adapts easily to whoever his companions may be, and he falls in at one point with some sadistic horse thieves led by Dan Suggs, who enjoy shooting settlers and burning their bodies. Jake doesn’t shoot anyone but is complicit in the bodies’ desecration. Perhaps he does so out of fear that Suggs and his men will kill him if he doesn’t–but Jake isn’t in any hurry to escape them, or fight them. It’s easier for him just to continue riding with them.
Uva Uvam Vivendo Varia Fit.
Until one day, he’s called to account. Suggs, his brothers, and Jake Spoon are all captured by Gus and Call and Newt, who promptly decide to hang them all for burning the farmers and murdering three horse traders as well. Jake tries to fast-talk his way out of the necktie party, explaining that he doesn’t share in Suggs’ guilt:
JAKE SPOON: Oh, you don’t need to tie me up, Newt. Hell, I didn’t kill anybody. I just fell in with these boys to get through the Territory. Hell, I was gonna leave ‘em first chance I got!
GUS McCRAE: I wish you’d taken that chance a little earlier, Jake. A man who’ll go along with five killings is takin’ his leave a little slow.
There are more protests from the gang and from Jake, and then his old friend Gus explains:
GUS McCRAE: You know how it works, Jake. You ride with an outlaw, you die with an outlaw. I’m sorry you crossed the line.
JAKE SPOON: I didn’t see no line, Gus. I was just tryin’ to get through the Territory without getting scalped.
It doesn’t save poor Jake. They all knew he should have had the judgment to extricate himself from his bad companions long before his reckoning arrived.
See where I’m going with this now?
To get through the rough Territory of Chicago politics, Barack Obama fell in with bad companions–among them Rev. Jeremiah Wright, Father Michael Pfleger, and especially the unrepentant domestic terrorist duo of William Ayres and Bernadine Dohrn, who launched his career and donated $200 to his campaign.
Like Jake Spoon did, Barack Obama got very comfortable with his companions. And if he had good judgment, he should have seen the line they were crossing. Even if he never participated in their worst excesses, he sat mutely in the pew in the face of them for years.
Uva Uvam Vivendo Varia Fit.
Am I wrong? Let me ask you a question.
Dohrn and Ayres held a fundraiser for Barack Obama to get him started in Illinois politics. And in 2001, they contributed $200 of their own money to Obama’s re-election campaign.
So: Obama has taken money from unrepentant terrorists.
Has Obama ever given them that money back?
It sounds to me like a man that would hold on to a terrorist’s money for seven years is takin’ his leave a little slow.
*Yeah, I tend to overanalyze things now and then.
____________
{Post by See-Dub}
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Trackbacks
- The Election, Lonesome Dove Style | The Sundries Shack
- Reverse_Vampyr » Friday blogroll roundup
- This ain’t Hell, but you can see it from here » Blog Archive » Sunday link fest
- The “Old Cowboys Get Respect” Scene In Lonesome Dove : BigMouthFrog
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I’d say that about covers it. Watching that program will never be the same. Ugh.
See-dubya, I’m glad you chose a conservative blog to do a post about holding your own accountable. The liberals wouldn’t understand it.
Out-dang-standing!
A man is judged by the company he keeps. It doesn’t necessarily mean he’s complicit in what they do, but it sure calls into question his judgement and character.
MM. The Lonesome Dove mini-series is coming out on Blu Ray in August! I have already preordered on Amazon!
Well gee thanks See-Dub. Haven’t seen Lonesome Dove in fifteen years, now I’ve got the hankerin’ for it and I’m too busy.
Pretty good analysis by the way.
Great analogy See-Dubya. Love the Lonesome Dove series. Great dialogue.
Brilliant, see-dubya!! The Muse was upon you!
Brilliant — You beaned balled this one, and described the post turtle to a tee.
HEH
You forgot THIS link.
I’m with zorro, see_dubya…
and
But, I do think it is a good analogy.
Sweet dubs. You anatomize and conflate reality and fiction quite well.
Never seen it - Lonesome Dove…
*ducks for cover*
Great post See-Dub, Lonesome Dove is one of my all-time favorite books. It truly illustrates the independent spirit of the American people of that time and what built this great country into what it is today. You are spot on with your comparison of Obama and Jake Spoon, but another angle is if you compare what Obama and his cronies want to turn this country into, you couldn’t get a more stark contrast than reading Lonesome Dove, and realizing that this story is but a vignette of many similar real stories of grit, determination and indomitable spirit to build a better life.
I have always like Lonesome Dove and own the “Return”, “Dead Man’s Walk” and “Streets of Laredo”. Good point though, about Obama. It is a very wise truism that…you are, by the company you keep. This man simply seeks power, and power only in any way, shape or fashion. Look to see a disaster if this man is elected. He will do whatever the liberals in congress want him to do, as well as his “friends” from Chicago.
I’d like a chance to shoot at a educated man once in my life.
I take great pride in having avoided any cowboy movie that stars Ricky Schroeder, 30P!
A friend of mine is an Obama fan/apologist who makes the same argument in his defense: “He just had to do that to gain credibility and get the local people to support him in the beginning.”
Since I am white and considering a run for city council in the next five years, maybe I should join the Klan or Aryan Brotherhood, right? No, that would be stupid because I don’t believe in that stuff and wouldn’t sell out my beliefs for political gain or expediency.
The puppet isn’t scary, it’s the puppet-masters I’m worried about.
One thing in Spoon’s (small) defense - he didn’t wait/didn’t make his friends send the horse running to hang him. He did it himself.
That, I guess, would be like BHO quitting, which ain’t gonna happen.
Speaking of, Obama pal and chairman of Communist Party (Marxist-Leninist), “CPML”, has blog purged from Obama website.
Another one is “a man from snowy river” where the mountain men tell Jim he needs to go down and EARN his way to live up here.
I’m no Aesop (or cowboy), but I prefer: “You lay down with dogs, you’re gonna catch fleas.” I know it’s supposedly from Ben Franklin, but he lifted much from ol’ Aesop and I think this one was lifted, too.
A true aphorism.
But in Obama’s case:
“Believe nothing you hear, and only half of what you see.”
— Mark Twain
Very nicely done! I thought it was going to be a “long walk for a short beer,” but the pay-off was outstanding. I think it is worth mention, however, that Jake eventually does man up and accept his hangin’ fate and lest I’m mistaken, he’s the one that kicks the horses ribs out from under him to git ‘er done…
Also I thought Ulrich was great in the role, but that’s just IMHO.
Oh Mahmoud #19 you already mentioned Spoon’s self-deliverance… sorry i hadn’t read whole thread….
The difference batween Obama and Jake Spoon is that Obama shares his companions beliefs. Being a Communist he is an amoral, unprincipled opportunist. Marxism allows nothing else.
A Spanish saying (although I hate to use anything Spanish) is “Dime con quien caminas y te dire quien eres” which translates as “Tell me with whom you walk and I will tell you who you are.” I think this is the same with Obama. You hang around these types of characters and you are just like them.
Between Silver Spoons and NYPD Blue he moved to Montana and became a Real Man What Works Outdoors With His Hands and Eschews Facials.
If the Afrosphere and/or Black-o-sphere and/or Black Blogosphere gets hold of that post, then you will be called a racist, because they’ll focus on the ‘lynching’ part.
I remember a line from the book that went something like the boy was as gentle as the doves that pecked in the shadow of the barn and I thought that was beautiful. If someone wants to correct me, please do.
Regardless, I like your analogy, see-dub.
I haven’t seen or read LD is a while either, but I’ve watched it many times and read it twice. Everyone I know loves it.
From Juvenal, to the old West, to current events–the eternal verities. Very nice post.
takin’ his leave a little slow, indeed.
Excellent analogy see-dub.
Good analogy.
“Hope you boys don’t hold this against me.”
(nods)
“Jake, I did get Lorie back.”
(blank, vacant look) “Who?”
Excellent book, read it in a foxhole in the Mojave, got passed around during FIRE-EX’88.
The mini-series, for the most part, picked great characters.
That is one fine piece of writing see-dubya. One fine piece!
Thank you for saying what I have been thinking but didn’t have the words for.
Mr. Swmbo and I feed the birds then sit on the porch and watch them eat. The expression “birds of a feather flock together” is quite true. Voters need to remember that.
Whew… Thanks purplepeep!
“That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with very wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive.” (Eph. 4:14)
That was an excellent read, see-dubya! It started as a pleasant, meandering stroll, but nailed the point.
############
Concerning the Latin motto, I believe it was printed on the sign to look pretentious. Gus McCrae was literate, but not literary. He owned a book or two and found Latin to be impressive. Appropriate, since the post is about superficial lefties.
I loved that miniseries, and I agree with the miscasting of Robt Ulrich (R.I.P.).
As to Obama’s outlaw friends, I’m more compelled by the length of time he kept their company than the puny $200 donation, but it makes the point well, MM, and this is a very fun read.
Thanks!
Everything sounds better (scholarly) in Latin or Greek or German
and it sounds sexier in French for that matter, or Italian
heck the only thing that doesn’t make a phrase sound learned or sexy is Russian, wonder why?
Great analysis.
Lonesome Dove is one of my all time favorite novels, and the mini series is among the best ever produced on television.
I don’t know if any of you remember, but in the book, they capture a man and his teenage son who steal horses. They hanged the father, but out of pity they spared the son, who begged them for mercy, saying that he just went along with his father and wasn’t to blame.
Later, they caught the boy stealing from the camp. Then they hanged him.
And the Left cries over child rapists.
.
and like the grape(s):
You are a product of your environment.
Memories, memories. I’ve also had a spot in my heart for Diane Lane ever since.
p.s. HOW AWESOME!!
Final tally: $1,055,719!!!!!!!!!
Thank you all!!!!!!
Unbelievable, what a great job by Michelle and Melanie…M&M&M&M. the M&M TWINS.
Great post see-dub.
I know we are talking about Obama here, but I think this part could apply to the majority of our elected officials in Washington. With 41,000 + lobbyist…..I think they are all taking their leave a little slow and kickin’ the horse out from underneath America.
Lonesome Dove is by far Larry McMurtry’s best book. It is also, in my opinion, one of the two best westerns ever written. The other is The Searchers by Alan LeMay. Strong men in difficult circumstances living by their codes of honor are always attractive.
#38 LifeoftheMind,
I always thought my great-grandmother was French, until they told me it was only that she had suffered a stroke.
You know how it works, Jake. You ride with an outlaw, you die with an outlaw. I’m sorry you crossed the line.
Lonesome Dove ruined all the previous westerns for me because if its realism. I saw pictures of real cowboys from the Lonesome Dove time period and LD was very accurate. It’s still my favorite western.
And this was an outstanding character analysis of BO.
Give Lonesome Dove a try. Rick Schroeder really did a great job in this one. He’s not the pretty sissy boy, but a very young cowhand who’s learning the ropes. I never was a Schroeder fan either, but he was good in LD.
When he refused to sell his horse to a cavalry sergeant the sgt proceeds to beat him. Captain Call comes to Newt’s rescue and it’s one of the best scenes in the series. Call and Gus didnt take no stuff.
Well said.
It is one thing to sup with sinners and publicans to bring them to the light. But one can, and should, be judged by the company one chooses to keep over a prolonged or tumultuous period.
Great book, fabulous movie.
That scene was very powerful. You can see it at youtube at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E44VYR3tTE8
The novel Lonesome Dove is even better than the mini-series… although the mini-series was just about perfect. Bob Duvall captures Gus exactly, and Tommy Lee Jones got Call right on… but the guy that played Blue Duck sucked.
And like I said, see-dubya, the mini-series is being rereleased on blu-ray in August.
I hadn’t thought of Tom Selleck for Jake, but I think he would have been pretty good.
I like Rick Schroeder. He’s conservative, married (once) with lots of kids, a staunch member of the NRA, and runs counter to the typical Hollywood elitism that infects so many actors.
He was great as callow Newt in Lonesome Dove. Give it a try. You won’t be disappointed.
Gus and Call, those we’re “real” men.
Excellent analogy! BHO is just a “Spoon.”
purplepeep said:
“30p sez:
*ducks for cover*
“I take great pride in having avoided any cowboy movie that stars Ricky Schroeder, 30P!”
I’m sure he’s great guy - it’s just not my cuppa tea, atheling, I like my cowboy movies “old school”.
If I’m in the mood for a western with angst, I pop in “High Noon”. Singing the title tune along with Tex Ritter is just an added plus.
One of my all time favorites a note of interest here Call and Gus were not really offering punishment to these bad guys as simply removing them from the living, an unpleasant task but it fell to them, and they just did it. McMurtry is one of my favorite authors and is a source of one of the great mysteries….he absolutely hated the classic version, which followed the book faithfully and actually made a very inferior version, which went mainly unseen?….How could he not understand his own book????????
see-dub…
Thanks for reminding me of Lonesome Dove. One of the phrases I remember from the book is Gus saying it was a good day to be a free man on the face of the earth. I enjoy repeating that phrase on those chamber of commerce days when the sun is shining, the freeway is clear, and the gas tank is full. Even though the world of responsibility is never far away, it is good to be a free man on the face of the earth.
I think the libs underestimate the desire of the majority of the citizens of this country to be free and have the trappings of freedom.
I fear too many people have been fooled by Obama & Co to prevent his election in November. But when the libs, drunk with power, try to take away cars, guns and and other freedoms (choice of your doctor?) during their first year in power, I believe they will arouse the freedom-loving spirit of Gus that exists in our citizens and will in 2010 suffer the loss they deserve this November.
Excellent point see-dubya. You hit it out of the park.
Lonesome Dove had great lines!
I love the scene when Captain Call is hauling Gus back to Texas from Montana, and he stops in a little town (New Mexico?) because his wagon wheel needs repairing. He notices that a hanging is about to begin, and mentions it to the wheelwright, who tells him that they guy they were hanging was a “bad one”, and Call asks, “Who is he, some politician?”
And it’s all done with a straight faces!
My all-time favorite foreign words to live by: Pas de leur Rhone que nous.
Not even Jean Forbes Kerry could have said it better.
Here is a youtube video of Jake being hung. That is a very powerful scene.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E44VYR3tTE8&feature=related
Great take on our dilemma see-dubya! Enjoyable read and like Aesop, slammed the light of truth upside your head at the end. More. More!
Sadly, the definition of dilemma in Webster’s Dictionary suits this election to a tee:
di+lem’ma n. a situation that calls for a choice beween equally unpleasant options; any serious predicament - on the horns of a dilemma a choice between equally undesirable options.