In
“Bunchgrass Edge of the World” by Anne Proulx involves a family of ranchers
that live on the Wyoming plains. The Touhey family consists of Red the oldest
and his son Aladdin and Aladdin’s wife Wauneta.
Aladdin and Wauneta have three children named Shan, Tyler, and
Ottaline. Shan and Tyler, the youngest
of the three, leave the ranch to pursue life in Las Vegas. The older sister
Ottaline, “distinguished by physique approaching the size of a hundred-gallon
propane tank,” and she is the only child left on the farm (125).
Aladdin
is your typical hard working rancher trying to raise a family. His dad Red is a
bitter and angry man who speaks unkind words to others. Aladdin and Wauneta try
to push Red out but Red is stubborn and refuses to die. Red was caught trying to molest Ottaline when
she was very young. This sets her up to be crazy and not very bright and
eventually has off and on relationships with different ranch hands. She becomes
lonely and in her spare time listens to cell phone conversations on a scanner.
She opens herself up to having conversations with an old 4030 tractor which
shockingly opens her up to love.
When
Aladdin becomes sick, he looks to Ottaline to help with selling the cattle. He
therefore sends his daughter to meet with the cattle buyer whom she falls in
love with and marries. Ottaline marries Flyby Amendinger who is the cattle
dealer’s son. When returning from buying a plane, Aladdin accidentally lands
his plane into the 4030 tractor and breaks his neck.
The story ends with Ottaline and Flyby
married and living in the ranch house with Red. With Aladdin dead, Red seems to
believe that Wauneta will move to Las Vegas to join her youngest children. Red
will be moving out of the pantry and back upstairs. Aladdin and Wauneta wanted Red to die.
However, he was the last one left on the ranch. The story seems to come full
circle with characters.
~ Andrew Baker
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