From Rio de los Brazos de Dios:
[ If there were to be a controversial passage in this story, the one here below might be it. Some might take issue with Aaron's 'color' comment, as if he is objectifying women. But no man in literature is farther ahead of his time with respect to interracial romance and marriage than Aaron, who not only loves Sunny, but respects her and treats her as his equal, long before it was commonly done. He treats her male family members as his equals as well. Here (in the passage below) he is linguistically 'playing' with Dusty a bit to make a point. He wants to minimize the issue of color (race) by insinuating that it is no more of a 'big deal' (in a negative sense) than what flavor of candy one likes or his favorite whiskey. He is insinuating that color should be only a matter of personal preference rather than an issue of looking down on women of other races. If Dusty doesn't want a non-white wife, then that's fine. But Aaron is inferring that those women are still worthy. He suggests as well that Dusty may be surprised in romance and find an unexpected partner. Finally, he points out that the woman has an equal say in the matter too. ]
I guess Dusty realized that he was seeing [true] love again, as he had before. Yet, when the New Mexican got up from his woman, the foreman couldn’t resist an inquisitive comment, perhaps more a question that a wise crack. “You’re awful affectionate with that Injun gal,” he stated to Aaron, who was readily prepared for such things.
The husband had long ago decided to defend the marriage bond with casual truths without taking offense at the questions or comments of others. That was unless the other party became offensive. He figured that people wouldn’t learn about what they didn’t know unless you informed them. So, Aaron looked at Dusty straight in the eye and smiled sort of a wry, knowingly serious smile, saying in reply, “She’s the love of my life, and she saved my life. Sunny almost died for me one night . . . willingly took that choice on a very dangerous night. A woman is a woman, Dusty. I guess you just have to decide which color you like, and sometimes the right girl might not be what you were lookin for. Then you have to hope she likes you.” He slapped the cowboy on the shoulder in a friendly way and hobbled on to whatever chore he was heading to.
[ If there were to be a controversial passage in this story, the one here below might be it. Some might take issue with Aaron's 'color' comment, as if he is objectifying women. But no man in literature is farther ahead of his time with respect to interracial romance and marriage than Aaron, who not only loves Sunny, but respects her and treats her as his equal, long before it was commonly done. He treats her male family members as his equals as well. Here (in the passage below) he is linguistically 'playing' with Dusty a bit to make a point. He wants to minimize the issue of color (race) by insinuating that it is no more of a 'big deal' (in a negative sense) than what flavor of candy one likes or his favorite whiskey. He is insinuating that color should be only a matter of personal preference rather than an issue of looking down on women of other races. If Dusty doesn't want a non-white wife, then that's fine. But Aaron is inferring that those women are still worthy. He suggests as well that Dusty may be surprised in romance and find an unexpected partner. Finally, he points out that the woman has an equal say in the matter too. ]
I guess Dusty realized that he was seeing [true] love again, as he had before. Yet, when the New Mexican got up from his woman, the foreman couldn’t resist an inquisitive comment, perhaps more a question that a wise crack. “You’re awful affectionate with that Injun gal,” he stated to Aaron, who was readily prepared for such things.
The husband had long ago decided to defend the marriage bond with casual truths without taking offense at the questions or comments of others. That was unless the other party became offensive. He figured that people wouldn’t learn about what they didn’t know unless you informed them. So, Aaron looked at Dusty straight in the eye and smiled sort of a wry, knowingly serious smile, saying in reply, “She’s the love of my life, and she saved my life. Sunny almost died for me one night . . . willingly took that choice on a very dangerous night. A woman is a woman, Dusty. I guess you just have to decide which color you like, and sometimes the right girl might not be what you were lookin for. Then you have to hope she likes you.” He slapped the cowboy on the shoulder in a friendly way and hobbled on to whatever chore he was heading to.