Memories and the Past
Mero Corn left home sixty years ago but he is compelled to return home to pay his last respect to his younger brother, Rollo. As a young man, he left home, Wyoming for Massachusetts because he did not agree with most of his father's decisions. Now as he drives back home, he remembers his youthful years and the reasons that forced him to go away from home to start a new life elsewhere. It is not very clear from the story on whether Mero arrived home but what is evident is that he got lost or probably died from a snowstorm. Ironically, his death and that of his brother are mystical. His younger brother is killed by one of the emus within the family ranch. Throughout Mero's journey back home, the reader realizes that it is full memories and Mero tries to remember everything about his home, his father, the family ranch and the old man's girlfriend. He also remembers all the reasons that made him desert his childhood home for over sixty years.
Homecoming that Never Was
Mero is determined to return home to bury his younger brother. However, from the story, he did not make it home. As he is driving home, he recollects all his memories and he is trying paint an imaginary picture on how his home looks like after sixty years of absence. Many things must have taken place and he is looking forward to witnessing them by himself. He imagines how the ranch is looking like now. He is imagining all these while recollecting every aspect of his childhood home before he left in his early twenties when he decided to move out and start a new life. Unfortunately, his excitement of returning home is not satisfied. The reader notes that he dies on the way home and therefore does not fulfil his mission of burying his younger brother.
Nature vs. Human Beings
Annie Proulx’s The Half-Skinned Steer is a story that largely talks about nature vs. man. The characters that help Proulx built this theme are Mero, Rollo and Tin Head. To start with, the reader realizes that the family of Tin is cursed because he is disrespectful to animals and nature. The story of Tin Head is told by the old man’s girlfriends to the Corn men. The reader can relate Tin’s misfortunes to the plagues that befalls the Corn’s ranch. The discussed misfortunes result to the death of some of the characters. For instance, Rollo is killed by one of the emus in the ranch. Similarly, while Mero is driving home to bury his brother, he is killed by a snowstorm. Therefore, Proulx is trying to demonstrate how merciless the nature can be towards man.
