Cowboys Are My Weakness by Pam Houston
"Cowboys Are My Weakness" by Pam Houston explores the complexities of relationships and personal aspirations through the experiences of a single woman who has relocated from New Jersey to Colorado. The unnamed narrator grapples with her feelings for Homer, an emotionally distant wildlife specialist, while spending time at a Montana ranch. Despite her initial infatuation with him, her passion wanes as she becomes increasingly aware of their mismatched emotional needs. During her stay, she develops a friendship with David, the ranch owner, who embodies qualities she knows she should desire but doesn’t.
The narrative delves into themes of longing, self-discovery, and the challenges of romantic entanglement, particularly through the lens of her interactions with Monte, a cowboy who piques her interest. The story culminates in a reflection on her disillusionment with the romanticized lifestyle she once idealized, revealing that she ultimately seeks a sense of fulfillment that transcends the allure of cowboy culture. Through rich character dynamics and introspective moments, Houston paints a poignant picture of the search for connection in a world fraught with emotional barriers and conflicting desires.
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Cowboys Are My Weakness by Pam Houston
First published: 1987
Type of plot: Psychological, regional
Time of work: The early 1990's
Locale: Montana
Principal Characters:
The narrator , a single woman about thirty years oldHomer , her current boyfriend, a naturalistMonte , a cowboy on the ranch at which she and Homer are stayingDavid , the owner of the ranch
The Story
An unnamed female narrator begins her story with a description of her romanticized picture of an ideal relationship, in which a woman has just kissed her bearded husband good-bye on their ranch. The narrator wishes she could paint the picture to see if she is the woman in the painting.
She has moved west from New Jersey and now lives in Colorado. She has always been attracted to cowboys and is involved with an emotionally distant wildlife specialist named Homer. Every year, Homer spends five weeks studying a herd of deer on a ranch in Montana, and this year the narrator goes with him, primarily because she knows if she does not, some other woman will. She was once madly in love with Homer, but by the time they arrive at the ranch, her passion for him is evaporating.
Homer spends all the daylight hours at his observation post, seldom moving, and if the narrator goes with him, she is not allowed to move or talk except when he does. Homer's contract to study the deer is up the week before Thanksgiving, and the narrator is excited about being home to prepare a holiday feast because her family always traveled over the holidays. Homer thinks her plans are childish and decides to stay another week at the ranch.
The narrator becomes friendly with the ranch owner, David, a poet and vegetarian who practices sustainable organic ranching and will not hire ranch hands who smoke cigarettes. She realizes that David is the type of man to whom she should be attracted but never is. When she and David share tea and take walks on the ranch, he tells her about the woman that Homer had an affair with the previous year and how devastated the woman was when Homer ignored her calls and letters after he left.
One afternoon, Homer and the narrator engage in unprotected sex, and she begins to consider the consequences. Because Homer has always been careful about birth control, the narrator begins to imagine that he has done this deliberately because he wants to settle down and raise a family with her. However, Homer coldly makes it clear that he does not intend to have a child with her, prompting her to observe that one of her problems in relationships with men is inventing thoughts for them that they do not have.
The next day the narrator meets Monte, a cowboy on the ranch. Monte observes her struggling to help Homer weigh a deer that had been killed and asks her to go to the Stockgrowers' Ball with him that night. At first she declines because she has agreed to cook dinner for Homer and David, but after Homer scoffs at Monte's invitation, she reconsiders. She borrows clothes for the dance and rides there with two of Monte's friends, who tell her how wonderful Monte is and how he suffered after his wife left him.
At the dance, Monte presents the narrator with a corsage of pink roses. The flowers clash badly with her orange blouse, but she is so delighted that she blushes. After dinner and speeches, the dancing starts, and Monte and the narrator dance together beautifully until 3 a.m. She begins to fantasize that she could settle in Montana with Monte. On the drive home, they have little to talk about but their horses; however, she is busy planning how to respond when he asks her to go to bed with him. When they arrive at their adjoining cabins, however, he says only that he would like to kiss her if he did not have a mouthful of chewing tobacco.
The narrator decides to go home for Thanksgiving without Homer. When she is getting ready to leave, Homer announces that he wants to marry her and treats her with unusual attention and kindness. However, she no longer cares. As she is driving off, Monte gallops up on a chestnut horse to say good-bye and ask her to write him and come back to visit. As she drives through Wyoming, listening to country songs in which all the women are victims, she realizes that life on a ranch in Montana will not be her happy ending.