Lonesome Dove

The thorn that sticks in Jake soon after the journey begins is a symbol of the need for luck in the American West. The thorn is small but dangerous. Left unchecked, it would create bigger problems, which is why Deets insists on removing it. Lorena thinks, “It was bad luck, Jake having an accident so soon after they started, but it was just a thorn.” (275)

Jake’s luck—or his perception of it—is the driving force of his life. The mesquite thorn is the first of many escalating misadventures that eventually lead him to a noose at the hands of his friends. The thorn symbolizes how quickly things can go wrong in the wild and foreshadows the fates of many who accompany the herd on the cattle drive. An infection eventually kills Gus.

Initially, Lorena is infatuated with Jake. As the journey progresses, he serves a function in her life similar to the function the thorn served in his thumb—a vector for infection. Once she is with Clara, when she tries to remember Jake she has only this: “He had got a thorn in his hand, she remembers that, but she didn't remember much else. She didn't much care that he was dead—he wasn't a good man, like Gus” (690).

The Sign outside the Hat Creek outfit is a symbol of the contrast between Gus and Call. Call does not believe the sign should list anything but their rates and the name of their company. Over the years, Gus’s ludicrous elaborations are an irritation to Call. The phrase “we don’t rent pigs,” written above a Latin motto whose meaning Gus does not even know, is a perfect demonstration of everything unique about Gus.

The sign also represents the relative dearth of learning amongst the men. Most of them are illiterate, as evidenced by the argument they have over whose name should be the longest. Gus takes the sign with them on the cattle drive, knowing that it will represent him to others who encounter them. When Wilbarger meets them, the sign is what he notices. The sign ultimately winds up serving as part of Gus’s gravestone.