The Wilderness of Reality

"There was no way to know what had happened. The more he thought about Archie the more he remembered the clear, hard voice and the singing. He thought about Gold Dust's rampant vigor and rich fur, about the sleek weasel at the McLaverty cabin. Some lived and some died, and that's how it was." (77)

Struggles of survival and domination are prevalent throughout "Them Old Cowboy Songs," primarily in the lives of Archie and Rose. As Archie attempts to withstand the harsh conditions of life as a cowboy, Rose endures her pregnancy in extreme conditions of heat and cold, both in some state of isolation. Proulx equalizes humans and animals, demonstrating the perseverance of reality over ideals. Social life, ranching life, and especially the life of a woman are all struggles to defeat the dangers of some form of death, literal or metaphorical. There are several instances in the piece where characters are given animal-like qualities, such as when Mr. Dorgan "gnawed at his untrimmed mustache" after Mrs. Dorgan asserts her dominance as the founder of his political life, and therefore his dependence on her, in order to survive as a "genteel specimen of womanhood." (75) As Rose attempts to preserve her idealistic vision of a happy family, she is confronted with a life that "reeked of desertion and betrayal" (61) that eventually ends in her death, and the death of her ideal. Rose buries her child in an "ancient rage" (65) with the silver spoon that symbolized the promise of riches and happiness for ancestors coming to America. Her rage is primitive and animalistic, as she attempts to maintain her womanly pride by concealing the "horror" (66) of her failure as a woman to bear a child. Instead of feeding her baby with the silver spoon of prosperity, she uses it to bury the infant that is eventually devoured by the cruel and indiscriminate jaws of the wild. Proulx works to emphasize the indifferent nature of reality of life, and its ability to destroy the isolated stragglers, or those without the determination and strength to survive its challenges.

Throughout the story, the women mentioned fall victim to some consequence of a man's mistake. Rose dies because there was no one there to assist her in childbirth as Archie promised, her mother is sick with only a drunken husband for support and care, and Mrs. Dorgan's reputation is threatened by the false claims of the telegraph operator. Is Proulx claiming women are in a constant state of self-preservation because of the irresponsibility of the men in their lives, and that because of this hardship they are stronger in their will and resilience?