Plainsong

Kent Haruf's Plainsong was published in 1999 and addresses such powerful themes as community, acceptance and loneliness, as well as the effects of isolation on the individual. The novel focuses on several storylines and takes place in the high plains of eastern Colorado. The characters face daunting trials and tribulations, and many of their paths cross with one another.

In Holt, Colorado, Tom Guthrie readies his young children, Ike and Bobby, for school and checks in on his sleeping wife, Ella, before leaving for work. Ella is suffering from depression and confines herself to a dark bedroom, spending most of her time there away from her children and Guthrie. As Guthrie and his children struggle to comprehend Ella’s deteriorating condition, their homelife disintegrates, and Ella moves to Denver. Ike and Bobby are forced to grow up fast as they navigate their way through life without a mother figure to ease their isolation and confusion. Guthrie attempts to soothe his own loneliness with physical comforts, until he discovers a genuine, emotional connection with fellow teacher, Maggie Jones.

In the same town, Victoria Roubideaux, a 17-year-old pregnant girl, lives a lonely life with her verbally abusive mother. Victoria’s first and only boyfriend—and father of her child—disappeared a few weeks prior. When her mother finds out about the pregnancy, she locks Victoria out of her own house, thus casting Victoria further into loneliness and isolation. With no one to lean on and nowhere to go, Victoria seeks help from Maggie.

Maggie is unmarried, does not have any children, and is the caregiver of her senile father. She is attracted to Guthrie, despite his own set of problems. Maggie wonders if he may be available, but does not know if she is ready to introduce another possible complication into her life. When Maggie finally finds herself unable to juggle all her responsibilities while also helping Victoria, she enacts a plan to house Victoria with two elderly brothers who live outside of town.

Brothers Raymond and Harold McPheron live on a ranch outside of town, about 17 miles from civilization. When the brothers were teenagers, their mother and father passed away. The brothers have never married and have lived on the ranch for their entire lives. Though they are liked by most of the locals, they have kept an isolationist stance to other people. However, their lives of quiet solitude are forever changed on account of Maggie’s plan to have Victoria live with them. Though the McPheron brothers are apprehensive at first, they begin to care for Victoria and help her prepare for the arrival of her baby. Victoria finally finds her place in the world as the McPheron brothers go out of their way to make her feel safe and comfortable in their home.

Despite all of the loneliness, heartbreak and isolation running rampant in the narrative, for many of these characters, the best recourse is to reach out to other people. In this way, a community of like-minded individuals can emerge and often replace the dynamics of nuclear families. Though the characters are all racked with their own obstacles, they can take comfort in one another, thus showing that acceptance and community are important for physical and emotional well-being. The narrative also shows that when people feel as if they are enduring heartbreak alone, there are others in the world just like them, and those who might be able to help them if they reach out.