Horses Of The Night Analysis

Surrounding environments influence an individual’s course of action whether it is beneficial or harmful. In the short story, “Horses of the Night” by Margaret Laurence, the character of Vanessa grows to notice that some people do not change after all. She notices that what changes is the growth in awareness and self-realization. Therefore, it can be said that an individual who tries to escape reality get caught and as a result, they create their own world that only results in a temporary happiness.

At the beginning of the story, Vanessa is a naïve and oblivious child. She is only six-years-old when Chris travels to Manawaka for the first time. Isolation prevents her from seeing the reality that lurks outside of her home. Vanessa …show more content…
Chris says that he is planning on becoming “an engineer, civil engineer” then goes on to say, “You take the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, now… all those thin ribs of steel, joined together to go across this very wide stretch of water… That’s what engineers do. Imagine something like that, eh?” Vanessa helps Chris keep his dream alive, as she doesn’t question it. Also, she is only able to think about how Chris will be leaving her if he goes off to university. As it is only the beginning of their relationship and Vanessa being too young to understand the false hope that Chris holds on to, she continues to view the world imaginative through Chris’s eyes shrouded with his need to escape …show more content…
When she is thirteen, an event that affects her deeply is the death of her father. After this happens “the whole order of life was torn. Nothing was known or predictable any longer.” This event is the predominant reason of a change in her character as it forces her to mature. Her mother suggests travelling to Shallow Creek to visit Chris, and Vanessa imagines the place the way Chris describes it to her: “fashioned of lining trees, the lake like a sea where monsters had dwelt, the grass that shone like green wavering light while the horses flew in the splendor of their pride.” However, the Shallow Creek that she sees is the opposite of the Haven that Chris describes it to be: “It was a fair-sized but elderly shack, made out of poplar poles and chinked with mud. The house had no screens on the doors windows” and when Vanessa sees the lake, “there was no feeling about the place.” What Chris describes is all an illusion as there is nothing magical about that place. Vanessa figures out that the reality of the horses is not what Chris describes them to be. Her description of the horses compared to what Chris’s description of the horses is that “The horses were both plough horses, thick in the legs, and badly matches as a team. The mare was short and stout, matronly. The gelding was very tall gaunt and he limped.” Duchess and Firefly are imaginary horses while the real