Violence, Pleasure, and Desire Theme Analysis

Violence and destruction pervade “55 Miles to the Gas Pump,” from major events (such as Rancher Croom’s suicide) to atmospheric details, like the descriptions of “splintery boards.” Throughout the story, however, Proulx associates violence more with pleasure than with pain or horror—her descriptions of Rancher Croom’s murder victims are sensual, Rancher Croom’s suicide seems almost joyful, and, of course, the story’s final line suggests that violence is a kind of “fun.” Proulx’s evocative descriptions put readers in the position of enjoying the story’s grisly acts (suicide, murder, and necrophilia), which mirrors the pleasure that the Crooms take in violence. By leading the reader to have fun with descriptions of violence, Proulx suggests that all people—not just the Crooms—have a latent capacity to take pleasure in things we find morally horrific.

In the first paragraph of the story, Proulx describes Rancher Croom—a suicidal serial killer—in joyful terms. The reader is first introduced to Croom as a “warm-handed, quick-foot dancer” with “stray hairs like the curling fiddle string ends” whose homemade beer “[bursts] out in garlands of foam.” This warm, pleasant language evokes an event like a party, with music, dancing, and decoration. In addition, far from expressing fear or even resignation at the prospect of suicide, Rancher Croom approaches it eagerly and forcefully, “galloping” to the canyon brink and waiting only a moment before “[stepping] out,” which implies that violence and death are not only routine for him (needing no hesitation) but also perhaps enjoyable. Furthermore, after he jumps, Proulx describes him with language that evokes buoyancy and lightness (“parting the air,” “surging up,” and “windmill arms”). These descriptions seem at odds with the severity of the situation, evoking joy and vibrant energy instead of describing suicide as a violent death of despair. The conclusion of the paragraph—“before he hits he rises again to the top of the cliff like a cork in a bucket of milk”—underscores this odd juxtaposition between pleasure and violent death. The notion of him rising again after jumping to his death is reminiscent of a carnival ride, where he might simply be able to jump and rise again and again without consequence.

The story’s second paragraph blends pleasure and violence even more explicitly, both through the revelation of Rancher Croom’s necrophilia and through the sexualized language surrounding Mrs. Croom’s discovery of the bodies. This combination of violence and desire is most literal when Rancher Croom’s necrophilia is spelled out: the bodies of the women he has murdered and hidden in the attic are “used hard, covered with tarry handprints, the marks of boot heels.” It is clear that Croom has been abusing these corpses for years, which the reader will presumably find disturbing. Mrs. Croom, however, does not seem particularly disturbed by it—in fact, her experience of discovering the corpses seems to be one of pleasure more than of fear or revulsion. Proulx describes Mr. Croom’s “padlocks and warnings,” which have kept Mrs. Croom out of the attic until now, as “whets to her desire.” The most straightforward reading of this phrasing suggests that her husband’s secrecy only makes her more eager to know what’s in the attic, but given the context of Rancher Croom’s own necrophilia and the implication that Mrs. Croom already knew what was going on, Proulx implies that Mrs. Croom might also get a sexual thrill from the corpses. This interpretation gains traction later in the paragraph with the sexualized language that describes a corpse as wrapped in newspaper from “nipple to knee,” a deliberately provocative choice (as opposed to a more neutral word like “chest”). Furthermore, the fact that Mrs. Croom “recognizes the corpses from their photographs in the paper” might also be suggestive—how long would she have needed to look at those photographs to recognize the women, particularly as decomposed as they are?

The final sentence of the story—“When you live a long way out you make your own fun”—efficiently sums up what Proulx has suggested throughout the previous two paragraphs: that Mr. and Mrs. Croom seek out and revel in violence, cruelty, and destruction, finding pleasure in it that is both emotional and sexual. While the reader is likely disturbed by the final sentence, Proulx’s sensuous depiction of violence throughout the story makes familiar the notion that violence is fun—after all, she has encouraged readers to appreciate her depictions of Rancher Croom rising “like a cork in a bucket of milk” after he jumps to his death, or in the “bright blue” paint covering some of the corpses. To read the final line after having taken some pleasure in the story’s grisly descriptions undermines the reader’s ability to judge the Crooms. While one might not want to take pleasure in violence, the story demonstrates that it’s uncomfortably easy to do so.