Character Analysis
The Dish and the Spoon
This isn't Brokeback Mountain, so Dish won't be running away with Jake Spoon, but the two men are still very similar. Dish Boggett got his name because he was so thirsty he once drank dishwater. Unlucky break, right? Jake got his reputation because of a lucky shot that killed a bandit.
Newt idolizes both Dish and Jake, but Jake overshadows poor Dish. It's something Dish has had to get used to. Like Jake, Dish is in love with Lorena. The reason he stays in Lonesome Dove is to be close to her. But she wants nothing to do with him or his big moustache.
Dish is often jealous of Jake and Lorena, but he doesn't do anything about it, because he's a kind soul. Dish is basically Jake Spoon if Jake Spoon actually had a heart. The way Dish gets treated by Lorena, though, might prove that nice guys finish last. After all, even after Jake and Gus die, Lorena still doesn't want to be with Dish.
Some loves just aren't meant to be.