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In
Annie Proulx’s collection of short
stories, Close Range, several themes preside throughout the stories.
Although each story tells about a different person who leads a
different life, they all tend to mirror one another. In Proulx’s
fragmented, broken up sentences, she tells stories of troubled
characters and their families, often dealing with harsh realities and
death.
Proulx’s
characters vary from farm owners like Aladdin Touhey in “The Bunchgrass
Edge of the World” to homosexual ranch hands such as Jack Twist in
“Brokeback Mountain.” However, despite their differences, these
characters have many similarities. For instance, their physical
appearances are all similar. These characters are described as having
eyes “as pouchy as those of a middle-aged alcoholic” (83), or “physique
approaching the size of a hundred gallon propane tank” (125). Besides
their looks, Proulx’s characters are, to say the least, down on their
luck. Most of them come from homes where nobody was appreciated, and
abuse was standard. These people are trapped by the lives they lead,
blinded by their own unhappiness, and can see no clear way out.
Proulx’s writing style is very matter of fact, and she does not
interject her own emotion into the stories she tells. For instance, in
“Job History,” Leeland Lee goes through life jumping from job to job,
trying to support his family who does not show any love for him. When
his wife dies, or when he loses yet another job, Proulx does not soften
up anything about those events.
In
each of her stories, Proulx manages to illustrate just how miserable
the lives of her characters are without becoming maudlin. The
characters in her stories are neither heroes nor villains, they are
simply people who are trying to make the best of the lives that they
lead and the hands that they have been dealt. It is this effort they
put forth that is the wrenching focus of each of Proulx’s stories.
~
Mary Stuck
Work
Cited
Proulx,
Annie. Close Range: Wyoming
Stories. New
York: Scribner, 1999.
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