Essay Questions

Why did Mero’s old man decide to be a mailman?

The old man is the owner of Corn's family ranch which is facing several challenges. Firstly, cows often fall from the cliffs and those that survive are eaten by the pillaging lions. Despite the ranch being big, the benefits received from it are unsatisfactory. Since the ranch is making little economic sense, the old man decides to try something else. Therefore, he decides to be a mailperson because he hopes that this alternative can help him generate revenue as opposed to the ranch. However, his decision to give up on the ranch does not please his sons, Mero and Rollo. They considered his career change as defective and irresponsive. Perhaps, the old man wants more freedom by being a mailman so that he can get humble time to be with his girlfriend. Mero decides to leave the home to start life elsewhere. Rollo decides to give the ranch a trial but later sells it to the Girl Guides.

After being away from home for sixty years, what makes Mero Corn to return home and what irony emerges from his return?

Mero Corn decides to return to his childhood home a place he left sixty years ago when he was in his early twenties. He is now over eighty years. While at his home in Massachusetts, he receives a call from Tick's wife Loise that Roll has been killed by an emu in the ranch. The irony here is that Mero Corn does not know Tick and his wife! Tick is the son of his younger brother, Roll. This leaves the reader to wonder why the Corn's family is that scattered to an extent that an uncle does not know his nephews and nieces. Nevertheless, Mero left home sixty years ago and that can explain why he knows nothing about what is going on at his childhood home. Tick's wife tells him through a phone call that his brother is dead and he needs to attend the burial. She also informs him that his younger brother had sold the family ranch to an Australian business person who converted it into a tourist destination. Therefore, Mero Corn decides to come home to pay last respect to his late brother.

How does the theme of memories of the past emerge itself in the Half-Skinned Steer by Annie Proulx?

As Mero Corn drives back home to attend his late brother’s funeral, he starts to reflect on his past days before he left Wyoming. He remembers that he left his childhood home sixty years ago when he was twenty-three years old. He recalls vividly that the main reason why he left his home is because he wanted to start a new life. His father was not a person one could look up to as a role model because he was a drunkard. Similarly, his father never gave the family ranch much attention making it hard to sustain the family. The father also could not be looked up to because he lacked morals. He had a younger girlfriend as compared to his age. More often, Mero Corn remembers seeing the old man’s girlfriend as a horse because she was beautiful, charming and had unsatisfied sexual desire. Besides being the old man’s fiancée, she was eyeing Rollo and they ended up sleeping together and she got a son for him. Mero Corn also remembers that the old man’s girlfriend was a good story teller because he still recalls the narration of Tin Head and the misfortunes that befell him. Therefore, Anne Proulx uses Mero Corn’s return to develop the theme of memories and the past because throughout his journey, he could not help but remembers as many things about his past as possible