61 pages • 2 hours read
Victor LavalleLone Women
Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2023A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Background
Historical Context: Women Homesteaders Amid Westward Expansion
In the beginning of Lone Women, Adelaide remarks that she and the state of Montana share a birthday, though they are several years apart; Adelaide was born in 1883 and Montana officially received statehood in 1889. Her personal sense of connection to the story of Montana illustrates the significance of reading the novel through a historical lens, for Adelaide is a representative of an important period of American history: westward expansion and the development of the American West at the turn of the 20th century. This was a moment in which the conventions of the past clashed with the country’s march into modernity, a situation that created both opportunity and conflict.
Adelaide is an example of what historical accounts refer to as a “lone woman,” or a single female homesteader. Just like her hero, the historical figure of Mattie T. Cramer, Adelaide is one of a group of women who were given several acres of undeveloped land in one of America’s western states or territories. Once the land was awarded, such women had three years to cultivate the land or to “prove it,” after which the terms of their lease would expire and the land would officially belong to them. A substantial portion of the Montana landscape was shaped by these “lone women,” although their experiences were omitted from the dominant historical narrative. In this way, one purpose of LaValle’s novel is to honor these forgotten yet important historical moments. In turn, the novel also serves as a reminder of the many struggles faced by the settlers of the American West as they were introduced to the changes that industrialization imposed upon their way of life. From modern machinery and automobiles to mail-order catalogs, the innovations of urban America slowly found their way into the land of the homesteaders, disrupting the traditions and routines of their rural lives. Thus, Lone Women is designed to highlight the diverse and dynamic nature of the American West in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
Literary Context: The Blending of Genres in a Postmodern Western
Lone Women is a novel that relies on and plays with the tropes of several different literary genres, most notably the classic Western narrative and the horror story. Both the harsh setting of the novel and the rugged individualism of its main characters are classic elements of the stereotypical Western. These stories are frequently populated with strong, independent cowboys and ranchers who must contend with thieves and outlaws. Novels in this genre frequently take place in a forbidding yet strikingly beautiful landscapes that requires the protagonists to overcome intense adversity and conquer an unforgiving natural world. Accordingly, Adelaide and her fellow “lone women” can be easily characterized as strong, self-reliant frontier folk, and on more than one occasion, they must fight against those who would threaten their lives, including outlaws like the Mudges and other antagonists who operate just within the bounds of the law, such as Mr. Reed and his Stranglers. At the same time, the inclusion of distinct supernatural elements shifts the novel’s essence beyond the limitations of the traditional Western, for it to incorporates creative elements of horror to spice up the narrative and create a sense of suspense. The “grotesque” figure of Elizabeth Henry, who is both Adelaide’s sister and the murderous creature that inhabits her steamer trunk, represents the novel’ most obvious manifestation of horror conventions, for her appearance is so threatening and otherworldly that she is almost impossible to describe. Elizabeth also attacks both animals and people with abandon, and her exploits are described in graphic detail. However, Elizabeth is not the only aspect of horror that the author employs, for his world-building also incorporates ghosts and hauntings, suspenseful mysteries, and murderous antagonists who act with little to no remorse. By blending these two seemingly disconnected genres, the author creates a fantastical yet believable setting to emphasize the fact that horrific acts of one kind or another did indeed take place during the development of the American West. The novel also serves as a reminder that ordinary events can often hide the most treacherous horrors.
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By Victor Lavalle
