Crossroads

The Montana landscape is an important motif in Crossroads that ties in with the ranch motif and emphasizes both the romantic aspect of the story and the theme of Personal Growth Through Confrontation With the Past. The story opens with Indya driving through the Montana wilderness on her way to the ranch, and the imagery is striking as she passes through forests, meadows, mountains, and rivers. Indya’s connection to the Montana landscape is complicated and deeply intertwined with her bond with her father, who loved “[h]ow one minute, you’d be fully connected to the world. The next, this place would decide for you that it was time to put the devices away. Like Montana knew you weren’t paying attention to its beauty because you were too focused on a screen” (1).

The isolation provided by Montana’s wilderness allowed Indya’s father time to relax and heal and likely helped extend his life by giving him something to look forward to each year. Indya says that her father referred to Montana as his “carrot” because having the next trip as a goal meant that he had a reason to push through. Throughout the story, the Montana landscape remains at the forefront of the narrative and becomes the entirety of its setting. Rich imagery creates a setting that almost becomes its own character: “Emerald meadows stretched to thick forests at the mountain foothills. The stream that cut through the grasses rushed with clear, cold water. Black cows crazed while calves danced at their feet” (110). The character West symbolizes the landscape, and his connection to it is part of what draws Indya to him. Indya also feels a sense of obligation to her father and remains connected to the land as a way of staying connected to him.

Sex and romance are used as a central motif in Crossroads, a story that revolves around the lifelong romantic bond between protagonist Indya and deuteragonist West. The sexual tension between these two characters is clear from the beginning, as Indya notices West’s features the moment she sees him again. She observes his stubble, his sweat, the open buttons on his shirt, and his overall ruggedness. Seeing West ride a horse is also arousing for Indya. Indya’s perception of West turns him into an archetypal figure of masculinity and masculine sexual appeal, but without objectifying him or removing his depth as a character. West has similar perceptions of Indya, often noticing her breasts, her clothes (or lack thereof), and her curly hair: “God, she was beautiful. Sparkling eyes. Dark, sooty lashes. Soft pink lips. Her beauty rocked me on my heels every damn time” (63). The author also devotes several chapters to Indya and West’s sexual encounters, describing them in erotic detail.

Indya and West’s romance blossomed when they were children and came to full fruition when they were teenagers. Their attraction and the passion between them are “as natural as breathing” (92), despite having only seen each other once a year or less, and their romantic attraction overpowers distance and time. The romance between West and Indya also adds tension to the story, as they spend many weeks unsure of how each other feels or where they plan to go with their relationship. The story sees their relationship develop through two lenses: the lens of their childhoods and the issues that brought them together (Indya’s father’s illness and West’s parents’ divorce) and the lens of their adulthoods and how that romance came to define their entire lives. In the end, Indya decides that she is meant to be with West and stays on the ranch to raise a family with him.