The narrator’s loss of innocence, a classic theme in coming-of-age stories, plays a central role in the story, for her realizations about the hidden complexities of personal identity drive the plot of “Walker Brothers Cowboy.” The protagonist’s loss of innocence and growing disillusionment become most evident in her shifting perception of her father. In the opening pages, the protagonist holds the naïve belief that her father is as tranquil and steady as the lake. She does not realize that his past life differed greatly from his current circumstances, and this belief highlights her child-like conception of her father as unchanging. Like most children, she thinks about others mostly in relation to herself, rather than understanding that they have pasts that are unrelated to her.

The protagonist’s innocent view of people is also reflected in her oversimplified perception of her parents as precise opposites. This perspective is evident in the narrator’s tendency to compare and contrast key details about her parents, creating a false dichotomy between them. For example, after commenting on the clothes that her mother makes her wear when they leave the house together, the protagonist notes, “This is entirely different from going out after supper with my father” (Paragraph 8).