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Roscoe Brown
Janey is a little girl with a sad history. She grew up in Texas but lost her brother, mother, and father to various accidents. After that she lived with a Dutchman and then a man named Bill, who sold her to Old Sam. Janey is an excellent hunter of varmints, and after she runs away from Old Sam with Roscoe, they feast daily on the rabbits, frogs, possums, and other creatures she catches. Clearly traumatized, Janey is shy around strangers and leery of towns like Fort Worth. But she’s a capable tracker and travels faster on foot than many people do on horseback. In addition, she’s a crack shot with a thrown rock. She helps Roscoe escape death at the hands of Hutto and Jim. Although July and Roscoe try to leave her in town before heading north after Elmira, she runs away and joins them. Along with Joe and Roscoe, she dies at the hands of Blue Duck in Texas.
Janey Quotes in Lonesome Dove
The Lonesome Dove quotes below are all either spoken by Janey or refer to Janey . For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Chapter 58 Quotes
July didn’t want to see it. He knew he had to, but he didn’t want to.
He felt a terrible need to turn things back, all the way back to the time when he and Roscoe and Joe and Elmira had all been in Arkansas. He knew it could never be. Something had happened which he would never be free of. He had even lost the chance to stay and die with his people, though Captain McCrae had offered him that chance. “I’d feel better in my mind if you’d stay with your part,” he had said.
He had not stayed, but when he had gone, he hadn’t fought, either. He had done nothing but ride twice over the same stretch of prairie, while death had come to both camps.
Related Characters:
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Explanation and Analysis:
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Janey Character Timeline in Lonesome Dove
The timeline below shows where the character Janey appears in Lonesome Dove. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 43
...the favor by inviting Roscoe to dinner with himself and a girl (later identified as Janey) whom Roscoe sees standing in the doorway of Old Sam’s cabin.
(full context)
...biscuits, and tries to fall asleep, but the sound of Old Sam beating and abusing Janey keeps him up. Early the next morning, he mounts his horse and gets underway again....
(full context)
Chapter 52
Roscoe likes travelling much better with Janey along. The only downside is that she’s plagued by nightmares, and this makes her a...
(full context)
While Hutto and Jim make Roscoe strip naked—thinking he must have sewn money into his clothes—Janey slips away and starts hurling rocks—with amazing accuracy—at them through the dark. One strikes Hutto...
(full context)
...and start riding west with Roscoe and Joe bringing up the rear. Roscoe regrets leaving Janey behind—she refused to come out, even after July subdued the bandits—but after a few miles,...
(full context)
...they leave the horses to rest at a livery stable where the kindly owner feeds Janey and Joe some breakfast. She also offers to mend Roscoe’s clothes, but he decides to...
(full context)
Chapter 56
...the buffalo gun, then subsequently runs into none other than July Johnson, Roscoe, Joe, and Janey.
(full context)
...He insists on going with Augustus. Near the river, they find a spot where Roscoe, Janey, and Joe can take shelter. Augustus doesn’t really want an untested man on such a...
(full context)
Chapter 57
...Blue Duck has already fled, he urges July to get back to Roscoe, Joe, and Janey who are defenseless against the dangerous and bloodthirsty outlaw. He promises to follow as soon...
(full context)
Chapter 58
Roscoe, Joe, and Janey wait anxiously in the canyon. They try to rest, but Roscoe can’t settle his mind....
(full context)
An hour later, July finds Joe, Janey, and Roscoe dead. Roscoe has been castrated. July has never felt so inadequate. Augustus didn’t...
(full context)
