In this thesis I try to discover the American West in Annie Proulx¡¦s Wyoming Stories. I do so in three chapters, each devoted to a different approach of the stories: chapter one looks at Proulx¡¦s work from the point of view of history, chapter two from that of sense of place, and chapter three looks at the grotesque elements in the Wyoming Stories. While approaching Wyoming Stories with a historical perspective, I discuss how Proulx reverses the stereotypical Western images that have been widely accepted since Frederick Jackson Turner published his ¡§The Significance of Frontier.¡¨ I use historian Patricia Limerick¡¦s historical observations, which discover the intertwined relationship of the mythisized West and American culture, to be my theoretical base to examine how the stereotypes of the American West create a virtual American West while marginalizing the real American West. I argue that Proulx¡¦s Wyoming Stories break the Western myths and suggest that the region has many of its own stories to tell. By presenting an unconventional Western image to readers, the stories also invite new perspectives on the region which may lead more outsiders to see the West without stereotypes. In chapter two, I argue that Proulx¡¦s stories contain a ¡§sense of place¡¨ that does not resemble the joyous topophilic feelings usually associates by that phrase, but that rather, presents complicated relationships between humans and the landscape. By presenting different relationships between humans and landscapes in her Wyoming stories, Proulx also exposes urban-rural conflicts that result from an urban living style that turns away from landscapes and ¡§the world out there.¡¨ However, as the urban pushes the rural far away, Proulx suggests that the rural, also rejects the urban. Nevertheless, I argue that, Proulx establishes in her stories a communal path for both sides with her sense of place that stresses that ¡§everything is linked.¡¨ In the third chapter, I turn to the grotesque to discuss Proulx¡¦s writing style and how this style leads the readers into the inner culture of Wyoming that is itself grotesque and full of contradictions. I also argue that with the form of grotesque, Proulx¡¦s stories weave complex and challenging texts that often confuse and challenge readers so that they have to constantly work with the stories, questioning them as well as their own experiences and knowledge in order to make sense out of the stories. And such a process not only allows the readers to, again, connect to a Wyoming or American West that does not exist in the stereotypes, but also provides a chance for readers to see conflicts, struggles, and grotesques in themselves and their own cultures.

In Annie Proulx's interview with Charlie Rose, she states that her stories come "from place." Ecocriticism has been the predominant lens with which to understand Proulx's work; however, ecocriticism's nebulous tenets and theoretical deficiencies perpetuate sentimental pastoralism of geographical determinism. The shaping impact of Wyoming's environment in Proulx's work lends itself to an evolutionary perspective. Proulx's fiction, like evolutionary theory, examines humanity's unique, reciprocal relationship with nature. The evolutionary approach provides readers with a framework to understand the human relationship to our environment, a theme Proulx's work examines. This approach also augments current criticism that notes the importance of place but does not utilize the relevant framework of evolution. Current evolutionary theory provides the theoretical framework necessary to shed light on the relationship between Proulx's colorful characters and the environment that shapes them. Utilizing this evolutionary framework and textual analysis, I examine two short stories, "The Half-Skinned Steer" and "Wamsutter Wolf."