The Time It Never Rained

The Time It Never Rained is a 1973 Western novel by the American author Elmer Kelton. The book tells the story of a West Texas rancher in the 1950s who struggles through years of drought to maintain his farm on his own without sacrificing his values or independence.

In the book's prologue, Kelton both introduces the drought that will last through the bulk of the book while making reference to past droughts of the twentieth century. When the drought first "crept up from Mexico," nobody expects it will be so bad. Dry spells are a part of life in West Texas, they say, and you merely have to wait them out until the rain comes.

Despite recent history, it was virtually inconceivable to residents that the drought could be as bad and long-lasting as the one in 1933. As for the 1918 drought, those dry spells come "once in a lifetime." But the drought of Kelton's novel would last from 1950 to 1957, during which "many a boy would become a man before the land was green again."



After the prologue, Kelton introduces the reader to the central character and setting. The town is Rio Seco, which according to a sign on its outskirts is "HOME OF 3,000 FRIENDLY PEOPLE--AND THREE OLD CRANKS!" The fictional town was long a livestock and dryland crops trading post, "gaining no ground but losing none." Unlike a number of other towns in Texas, there was no oil to be found in Rio Seco, leaving the city in a sort of historical stasis. Men work hard there, but the hard work is for naught without God to provide water for the crops which the hardworking men plant.

After introducing the setting, Kelton introduces readers to his protagonist, Charlie Flagg. In many ways, Flagg is an unremarkable hero: aging, not terribly talented as a rancher, not much of a husband, kind of a racist, and pretty much an all-around crank. But as the narrative progresses, Charlie is framed as a Job-like character, persevering according to his own possibly suspect values no matter the suffering that is heaped onto his life and livelihood. As a spiritual descendent of the previous century's frontiersmen, Flagg is naturally suspicious of government efforts to subsidize his lagging ranch business. Meanwhile, visits to the local federal PMA office become as necessary a part of Flagg's routine as planting cotton or sorghum. This is where Flagg meets with March Nicholson, the county PMA officer, to discuss the recent yields of his ranch and to discuss giving up shares of his farm to the government in return for federal subsidies.

With this, the author depicts the central conflict of the novel between men like Flagg, who wish to stay independent even as God and nature rebel against their livelihood, and the men like Nicholson who hold the purse-strings of the federal government and the chance for survival for Flagg and his family--albeit at a cost.



The author also introduces a few other major characters. These include Flagg's wife, Mary, his son, Tom, and his foreman, Lupe Flores. As the months and years go on, the drought persists, unabated. Kelton describes the situation in this particularly evocative passage on what he terms, according to local parlance, "drouths":

"Other places might have several drouths in a single summer. Texas was more likely to have several summers in a single drouth. Drouth here did not mean a complete absence of rain. It meant extended periods of deficient rainfall, when the effects of one rain wore off long before the next one came so that there was no carryover of benefits, no continuity."

During the first couple years of the drought, things are hard but manageable for the Flagg family. Charlie's son, Tom, is even able to leave the farm when he comes of age to become a champion rodeo rider. Over time, however, Flagg is forced to take the advice of the local banker, Big Emmett Rodale, and fire Lupe as his foreman. After that, he feels the need to compel Tom to return, against his son's wishes. In an effort to save the ranch, Tom complies. But when Tom returns home, he brings with him a difficult and lazy wife named Dolly who introduces a great deal of stress into an already fraught situation.



Throughout the exceedingly interminable drought, Flagg exhibits a great deal of perseverance but also a great deal of unnecessary stubbornness. For example, he is extremely reluctant to take any advice from Big Emmett, even good advice. He begrudgingly has no choice but to accept that the introduction of goats to his farm are a necessary evil because goats can be used to create profitable mohair. Flagg's antipathy toward goats isn't logical, except that it represents something foreign to the man who is used to cattle and sheep.

In the end, the drought finally breaks and the rains return. But it is too late. Tom sells off his share of the ranch so he can return to the rodeo circuit. Many of Flagg's peers also suffer after Flagg tells journalists that the ranchers don't need government subsidies.

Though Flagg is a hard character for readers to stomach at times, his Job-like perseverance is inspiring, even if it's constantly undercut by the man's own stubbornness.