Rhetoric Study

In this excerpt of the book, an old cowboy is having a flash back of when he was younger and was a very important cowboy on a very important, large ranch. His name, I kid you not, is Rope Butt, and in this part of the book, he is working on a ranch with a Dutch man named Habakuk van Melkebeek, who is very solitary and different. He tends to the windmills, and Rope is getting him a hand, young Ace Crouch.

"It was around this time that Rope Butt had written his first cowboy poem, twelve lines that took four hours to compose. It was burned into his memory.

Ridin' ol' buddy down the draw
I seen a cow jaw
but it had a flaw
it was broke in two
could fix it with a screw
and some glue.

That cow jaw made me think
of my uncle Leon Skink
he wore out four saddle in his life
and four wife
once he give me a pocket knife
it cut like stink.

The next morning, he rode down to the Crouch place. The kid, Ace, had been pleased and excited at the thought of going to work, and he did not seem disappointed that the jog was windmill repair assistant under a man who twisted the language into Dutch pretzels. Rope could understand why. The Crouch place was run down and lonesome, the grass over grazed, the fences mended and mended again into knots and bobtail ends, the cows scrawny and yellow-backed with maggoty infection. There was a windmill near the house, an aged wooden tower that he bet had seen plenty of emergency repair. Though it worked, it screeched horribly from lack of grease and a dozen other ailments. Rope thought that an instructional course in windmill repair for a member of the family would be a boon to the Crouch ranch.

But while Ace was getting his things together, old Mr. Crouch, who had a face like a gizzard and showed in his every gesture and word that he came down hard on his sons, bargained over young Ace's labor, insisting that three-quarters of the boy's pay had to come home.

'I'm givin up the work he could be doin here. We need all the help we can git.' He waved his hand vaguely. 'Anyways, what does he need money for if he's got board and lodge? Just spoil him, y'know?'

Rope smothered the impulse to say that the kid might want a new shirt or pair of pants that wasn't holed and patched, that he might appreciate boots that fit, or even that he might want to put some money aside for a new saddle or a horse or a down payment on a house should he get married in a few years, and remarked instead that he guessed Mr. Crouch would have to ride over and speak to Slike [the main overseer] about the kid's pay. The way it worked usually was that a hand drew his money and it was his, for he had done the work that earned it. Just then the kid came chargin out onto the porch with his change of raggedy clothes and an ancient kack that looked as though it might have been used by the Spanish conquistadors when they passed through.

'Your dad needs a talk with Mr. Slike about the money arrangements, first,' said Rope Butt, feeling sorry for the kid, who was clearly crazy to get gone from home that minute.
It was deep sleep night, the bunk house rattled with snores and stinking of cowboy bean farts when Rope was awakened by the sound of the door sighing on its hinges, a few stumbling steps, something eased down to the floor- the squeak of leather indicated a saddle- and a tired sigh. Somebody had come in and was going to sleep on the floor. He couldn't think who it was- Habakuk van Melkebeek, the only one missing, was out in some pasture with his bedroll and chain tongs. Then a new thought came to him; the windmiller might have taken a fall and dragged himself in for medical attention.

'Habakuk?' Rope said softly, 'that you?'

'It's me, Ace. Ace Crouch.'

'God sake,' said Rope, sitting up and fumbling for the light string.
The kid was a wreck, his nose swollen to twice its earlier size, his lip split, both eyes black and a gash in his forehead that would leave a white scar.

'Your dad do that?' said Rope.

The kid nodded. 'He did, but I got the best of it. I got out a there and he ain't goin a bother me no more. Any money I earn, it's mine.'

'Good,' said Rope Butt, 'You didn't kill him did you?'

'I wanted to, but I don't think I did. I hit him on the head with the shovel and it made a sound like hittin a kettle and he feel down. He was cussin and half up again when I took off.'

'Glad a hear that,' said Rope Butt, 'they come down hard on kids that send their daddies to the happy huntin grounds. I'll take you to Habakuk in the mornin. He's out with one a them dan old windmills. You got a bedroll?'

'No,' said the kid.

'You lousy? You got lice?'

'No. We was poor, but we wasn't dirty.'

'Well, now you're in a place where you will be poor and dirty. Long as you ain't lousy, you are welcome a take on my old bedroll. I got a new one a couple month ago. never throw anything out. Old one's kind a thin but it's comin on good weather so you won't freeze. Payday, you'n go into Woolybucket and get you a new on and a tarp.'

'Thanks,' said the kid. And that was that." (Proulx 142)



This is one of my favorite passages out of the entire book. This is because she packs in such good rhetorical devices. In order to make it easier, I color coded some of them within the excerpt. Below is a key.



Metaphors

Similes

Personification

Imagery


Humor

All of the devices that Proulx use come together to create a literary situation that not only flows well but resonates with the reader. Through her use of metaphors, she incerts a humorous way to see things in a new light. It allows the reader to look at a thing through her eyes, to step into her shoes for a moment to see how she views the world. It adds humor and insight, as well as calling attention to a part of the character that Proulx wants noticed: van Malkebeek was a man who "twisted the language into Dutch pretzels" (Proulx 142).

The similes in the peice add history and discription to the passage, and give the characters a face in the reader's mind. By adding comparisons, Proulx is able to allow the audience to picture things and people and the reader is then able to connect more realistically with the story.

By writing in so much detailed imagery, Proulx allows the reader to completely immerse his or her self deep into the world of flat plains and dusty cowboys, making each scene and dialogue more real. Also adding to the realism is Proulx use of dry humor. It lets the writing better mimic real life in the way she lets humor, sarcasm and sorrow all meld together to create a work.

Homosexuality

"I rather see the old schoolhouse where many a Cowboy Rose kid learned his ABC turned over to a hog farm than to them homaseashells [homosexuals]...Woolybucket County don't need no damn fags." (Proulx 138)

-Francis Scott Keister, fictional Woolybucket resident

Through out the book, and consequentially Bob Dollar's life, there is a reoccurring vein of subtle homosexuality. His surrogate care taker, Uncle Tam, had a roommate and suspected partner, Bromo. Although Bob was never sure, he had suspicions, and through the book, the audience can judge these to be true.

Then, once Bob arrives in Woolybucket, he is briefed on the history and gossip of the area. A large chunk of this news is devoted to the retirees and city dwellers that think of Woolybucket as an excellent place for a second home or empty-nester house. Of these people, the talk of the town is currently the gay couple that moved in and renovated the old Cowboy Rose schoolhouse and turned it into a glassblowing studio.

The entire community is a put off and unsure of how to deal with the issue, as in the West, homosexuality never was or is common or spoken about (there is no mention of Broke Back Mountain), and so every one has different ways of viewing the situation. However, generally they feel the same: gays are bad. As shown in the quote above, they see it as even worse then the hog farms, which they despise. To them, on the spectrum, there are "homaseashells" and pig farms, and then there is the good old West, complete with cowboys and riding off into the sunset.

This represents the area's inability to accommodate it's self with the modern age. While all around it, the outside world is coming to be more open and okay with homosexuality (a debatable topic within it's self...), Woolybucket County is stuck in it's ways, and inevitably the past. It seems that every one in the county is still obsessed with the way things used to be, and they spend most of their time revisiting old stories and living in the past. It's almost as if a step into Woolybucket County is a step into a time machine, which, I'm sure they would be proud of.

Image Study #2

(taken from; http://www.animalliberationfront.com/Practical/FactoryFarm/factory_farming.htm )

(taken from: http://www.woodstockfas.org/animals03.shtml )

(taken from: http://www.marketoracle.co.uk/Article10453.html)

I decided to do some image research on hog farms. I never really thought about where processed pig came from, but now that I do know I feel really bad for these animals. The way that they are squished into tight cages with no room for anything is incredibly inhumane. It angers me that by working for Pork Rinds Inc. Bob is endorsing this kind of thing. I know that Bob is pretty meek, and he really doesn't have any idea what hog farms really look like, but still. He shouldn't work for a business that he knows nothing about. I'm not sure whether I hold him accountable or not. Maybe later he'll do something to redeem himself in the eyes of animal lovers.

(taken from http://www.amazon.com/Ranch-Estacado-Western-Frontier-Library/dp/0806114282 )

The XIT Ranch is the ranch that started the barbed wire fencing business in the panhandle. It was a really large ranch, and it had a bit of a negative connotation. LaVon's grandfather worked on this ranch when he was down on his luck. It's a bit of a household name in Texas. It really represents the cowboy past of the entire town. Almost every one has connections too it, and although it was rough and dirty and hard, it was a time when cowboy life was simpler and idyllic (at least to those looking back on it now).

Character Study

Bob Dollar:
Bob is a young man who recently from a junior university. Currently, he is employed by Global Pork Rinds Inc. to scout out the location for their next hog farm in Texas. He has "the broad face of a cat, pale innocent eyes fringed with sooty lashes..." (Proulx 1) and has grown up without a mother or a father. He was dropped off at a young age, at his Uncle Tam's house after his parents decided they would rather go on an adventure to Alaska with out him. He is very inquisitive and helpful, and he is very kind. However, he is a bit of a pushover and he doesn't always seem to be the most clever. (His cover story for going to Texas was that he was looking for a Texan wife...that seemed like a pretty lame cover story to me.)



Uncle Tam:
Uncle Tam was Bob's primary care giver when he was growing up. It was speculated by Bob that he is homosexual (with his old roommate and business partner, 'Bromo'), but Bob was never sure. "The two men were housemates and business partners and, Bob wondered a few years later, if perhaps not something more, for there was in their relationship an odd intimacy that went beyond household or business matters." (Proulx 16) Tam is the owner of a junk shop, and he has an obsessive love of plastic. He looks at plastic items as art, and loves watching 'Antiques Road Show'. Tam is quiet and introspective, but he clearly loves his nephew, Bob. He was never rich, but he gave all that he could to him so that he could grow up properly. He is very dedicated and quietly passionate about the things that he loves.


Wayne 'Bromo' Redpoll
Wayne is the business partner and housemate of Tam. He is the polar opposite of Tam. He is openly aggressive about allot of things, most of them particularly inane. He is impatient and argumentative and very competitive. "...Wayne tried to counter Bob's skill [at crossword puzzles] by dredging up odd crossword information and explaining it to him as though that were the point of the puzzles..." (Proulx 13) As soon as Wayne realized that, even as a youth, Bob was better then him at crosswords, he made it look like he was still better then him. Wayne is constantly feeling extreme about something. Either he loves plastics passionately or he hates cliches and sayings and wants to damn them to hell. This is the perfect foil for Tam's stoicism.


Orlando
Orlando is Bob's "fat boy". "In every installation of life...there was a fat boy." For Bob, his fat boy became his only (and therefore best) friend when he was younger. Orlando was big and scary. He dropped out of school, wore skulls and crossbones and overalls. "He was not like other fat boys. He was not jolly...Bob Dollar knew instinctively that this was an evil fat boy." (Proulx 31) He is a minor character, but I think that he is important to the way that Bob grew up. He had a large influence on him, convincing him to steal prescription drugs from Tam and offhandedly making Bob feel self conscious about his lack of real friends.



LaVon Fronk
LaVon lives in the Texas panhandle, in the city of Woolybucket. This is the lady I was talking about before. The yakker. She talks to the extreme. She puts her knack for gossiping and telling stories to good use by beginning to write a book about all of the families of Woolybucket. She is very driven and knowledgeable about the area. She seems to be a perfect representative of her area. She was born and raised in Texas and knows all about the cowboy values and has good old Texan common sense. She also has a way of blatantly stating the truth that is refreshing. Mixed into her long tirades about her family history or the history of "barbed war" (that would be Texas speak for 'barbed wire') she does make some very good points about life. She does, however, have some very unexpected parts to her character. "'That's Pinky.' She reached for the box, set it between them and pried up the cover. Bob was horrified to see a tan tarantula with baby pink feet staring up at him." (Proulx 70)

Page 103...and LaVon is still talking...

So, in the part of the book that I'm reading right now, Bob is just sifting around the town that he's in- Woolybucket, the county seat of Woolybucket county, to pick up loose information that might be helpful to his employer- Global Porkrinds Incorporated, who wants to put a hog farm down in that part of Texas. As for lodging, Dollar rents a little bunk house from this widower named LaVon. His cover story for going down there (the locals aren't exactly receptive to the large hog farm corporations), is that he was looking for a Texan girl to marry. I have a feeling that he will end up doing that, though, however ironic it maybe.

However, I hope to God that it isn't LaVon. I swear, the woman talks like I have nothing better to do then just sit and read page after page of her words. For the past fifty or so pages, she has just been blabbing on and on about the history and whereabouts of EVERY SINGLE PERSON in her tiny town. Granted, she is writing a biographical book profiling the families of Woolybucket, and Bob did ask for it, but I don't think he would have if he knew what it would have led too. There was one part in the book where Bob just mentioned the fact that the only radio stations in the panhandle played hymns, and LaVon just cuts him off and begins bellowing like a dying hippopotamus stuck in the mud. I mean singing. She just seems too over the top- too chatty, too obnoxious, too judgmental.

But, she did say my favorite line so far out of the entire book:
"To live here it sure helps if you are half cow and half mesquite and all crazy." (Proulx 114) It was an excellent quote; it perfectly epitomizes the entire setting and aura that Proulx has created of this part of Texas, and in a great voice. I may hate her, but I have to give it to her, she does have her moments.