47 pages • 1 hour read
Angle of Repose
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Parts 5-6Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Part 5: “Michoacán”-Part 6: “On the Bough”
Part 5, Chapters 1-3 Summary
Lyman talks about his childhood, growing up with a dead mother and an emotionally distant grandfather; he admits to being “my grandparents’ child” (322). His grandfather was general manager of the Zodiac mine; his father was the superintendent. He was a rich kid, sent to boarding school, and his grandmother tutored him. He recalls a time when she told him about her time in Mexico. He ponders the career she might have had as an artist had she not been handicapped by never leaving North America. In that respect, Mexico became “her Paris and her Rome” (326). Susan and Oliver travel first-class on a train southward. They arrive and are met by Don Gustavo Walkenhorst, who speaks English with a German accent. They stay at Don Gustavo’s home.
Susan wakes early and watches the home come to life. She watches Ysabel, the coachman, water the horses and unleash the dogs. Servants, children, and animals gather in the court. Susan returns to the now-awake Oliver, and they discuss the future of the mine; there are many parties, all trying to get rich. They have conflicting interests though Oliver assures Susan that it is “all very agreeable” (335). If things go well, there is the possibility that Oliver might run the mine. He tells Susan to figure out whether she would like to live in Mexico.
The locals pose for Susan’s art. She notes how lavishly Don Pedro Gutierrez dresses compared to her husband or anyone in Leadville. She draws him, “trying to capture in some expression or posture the authority which flowed from him” (338). Eventually, she gives up and watches. The large group, Oliver included, are heading out into the country for three weeks. The Mexican men kiss the women on the hand as they leave; Oliver shakes their hands, and Susan feels embarrassed for him. The men kiss Susan’s hand. Oliver bids her farewell, and Susan feels a “quick, strong rush of love and pride” (342).
Part 5, Chapters 4-6 Summary
Susan writes to Augusta a week after Oliver departs. Emelita, Don Gustavo’s sister-in-law, has been an exceptional host, Susan writes, and Susan has done a lot of drawing. She is learning “a good deal of Spanish” (344) and has decided that the thought of living in Mexico is “very attractive” (345). She describes how much she misses Ollie. Susan has found a house that she believes is suitable. One day, she wants to draw a busy scene at the market. The next day, she returns with a large group of people to attend her and draws the scene as quickly as she can. She describes the social faux pas she has caused. She finishes the letter by saying how much she hopes to see Augusta soon.
Susan dreams that her house is too small; she and Oliver have many guests and nowhere to put them. Oliver arrives home, and she explains her dream to him. He announces that the mine inspection was not too successful; they will likely not live in Mexico. Susan is distraught and admits that she has never wanted anything more. A tense conversation reveals that they will likely not return to Leadville either. Susan wonders whether Oliver’s honesty will “ever get rewarded” (354).
The mood in Don Gustavo’s home becomes tense, as though “Oliver had abused his hospitality” (356) by writing a pessimistic report of the mine. While packing, the smell of Susan’s riding clothes reminds her of Frank and saying goodbye to him in Leadville. On that day, he admitted that he was in love with her and kissed her “hard and hungry on the mouth” (358). The smell of the skirt makes Susan homesick, and she admits to Oliver that she wants to return to Leadville. Lyman describes their departure from Mexico as the “end of dream number three” (359); they ride back north the next day.
Part 6, Chapters 1-2 Summary
Susan reunites with Thomas and Augusta. After a dinner party, the three sit and talk together. Susan sits surrounded by “mementoes of the Hudsons’ rich life” (363), and they praise her work in documenting the unknown parts of the country. She admits that she is writing a novel about Leadville, and Thomas offers to publish it. Susan notes a disparaging tone in Augusta’s voice for “anyone who was associated with the West, and in particular Oliver Ward” (366). Oliver is in Boise on work duty, and Susan feels the need to defend her husband. She feels self-conscious while explaining her novel. The evening ends. After leading Susan to a bedroom, Augusta asks her whether she is happy. She asks about the moment with Frank and “this child that’s coming” (369), which Oliver does not yet know about. Susan tries to convince Augusta that she loves Oliver but admits that she would prefer to stay close to Augusta.
Oliver arrives back after Susan has given birth to a baby girl. He chastises Susan for not telling him. The baby has been named Elizabeth. Rather than accepting the blame for not telling Oliver, Susan asks him why he was not entirely truthful. Oliver has been “off in some wild impossible scheme to bring water to two, three, what is it, three hundred thousand? acres of desert” (374). He wanted to be sure before he told her and shows her a pamphlet made by the Idaho Mining and Irrigation Company, which will “sell water rights and water” (376). Susan tries to hide how appalled she is by the project. Oliver reveals that he already has backing, without talking to Susan about the project. She is reticent to leave everything behind on a whim and asks for time to think, even though she knows that “she had already given in” (379).
Parts 5-6 Analysis
The time spent in Mexico is complicated. After an entire novel’s worth of traversing new frontiers and traveling to parts of the country that most Americans had never dreamed of visiting, Susan and Oliver actually travel to another country. Now, the distance from normalcy has been extended. There are cultural and linguistic differences that are even more pronounced than anything they have encountered so far. Earlier in the novel, Susan tried to learn how to speak Spanish but found herself limited to greetings. In Mexico, she throws herself into the language. She learns verbs and nouns, communicating with those around her in simple but effective language. This is a mark of how important the country becomes to her; she quickly falls in love with the romanticized version of life in Mexico.
She begins planning the lives of her family: how Ollie will grow up, which house they will own, and which servants she will need to hire. She even begins to have nightmares that her home will not be able to house all the guests who will come to visit her and Oliver. As quickly as her expectations and ambitions build up, they are dashed. Once again, Oliver finds nothing but failure in his career. What was a promising mine turns out to be limited, and they will not be able to live in Mexico. Having gone even further beyond the pale of the civilization that Susan once new, she has found herself even more disappointed. It is a telling lesson: The further Susan travels from home and the more she dreams of building a home and a life out on the fringes of society, the more she must suffer. Mexico, thus far, is the best example of this.
This tragedy is exacerbated when Susan returns East. Despite their own troubles, Augusta and Thomas have become inordinately successful. This presents Susan with a quandary: She loves both very much, but the juxtaposition between their lives only emphasizes her and Oliver’s failures. Whenever Susan hears about Thomas’ most recent successes, she cannot help but imagine what would have happened if she had married him instead, or remained a part of Eastern society. Though her friends compliment her relentlessly on her art and her writing, their praise does not gratify Susan. Their lives and their successes are only experienced in relation to her own, becoming another lens through which she examines her own failures.
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