The Red Pony, by John Steinbeck, includes four short stories. A favorite of mine is the first one, “The Gift”. During this story Carl Tiffen’s family's ranch is described and becomes the setting for all four stories. “The Gift” has three central characters. Carl, who is a stern, unemotional man, Billy Buck who is a warm person and spends most of his time teaching Jody how to take care of the ranch, and Jody who spends most of his time going to school and training his horse. This first story centers on a red pony, Gabilan, that Carl gives to Jody. Jody takes care of Gabilan everyday before and after school. Before school he brushes him and after school he trains him. When Jody is ready to teach Gabilan to let people ride him, Gabilan catches
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When Jody is first introduced he is ten years old. Throughout “The Gift”, Steinbeck focuses on Jody gradually gaining maturity. In the beginning he obeys his parents. but often forgets to do his chores, teases wild birds, and smashes a muskmelon every now and then due to his restlessness. At the age of ten, Jody already feels the need to act like a man, or be responsible for something that he owns. His parents don’t take his independence spark lightly, but are willing to test him and fulfill his dream by giving him a horse of his own. While he is coming of age, Jody learns that things that are exciting and promising, even his horse, can end in tragedy. “A longing caressed him, and it was so sharp that he wanted to cry to get it out of his breast. He lay down in the green grass near the round tub at the brush line. He covered his eyes with his crossed arms and lay there a long time, and he was full of a nameless sorrow” (173 Steinbeck). From these lines, it's clear that Jody isn't your average happy-go-lucky kid. His deep thoughts and feelings are normally of a grown man. For Steinbeck, all nature, including man, is bound together. The Red Pony is filled with descriptions of natural: weather, animals, and plants, all reflecting and directing events in the story. For example, as the rainy season gives Jody an omen of doom and, later, exposure to the rain fatally sickens Gabilan. And when
When Jody is first introduced he is ten years old. Throughout “The Gift”, Steinbeck focuses on Jody gradually gaining maturity. In the beginning he obeys his parents. but often forgets to do his chores, teases wild birds, and smashes a muskmelon every now and then due to his restlessness. At the age of ten, Jody already feels the need to act like a man, or be responsible for something that he owns. His parents don’t take his independence spark lightly, but are willing to test him and fulfill his dream by giving him a horse of his own. While he is coming of age, Jody learns that things that are exciting and promising, even his horse, can end in tragedy. “A longing caressed him, and it was so sharp that he wanted to cry to get it out of his breast. He lay down in the green grass near the round tub at the brush line. He covered his eyes with his crossed arms and lay there a long time, and he was full of a nameless sorrow” (173 Steinbeck). From these lines, it's clear that Jody isn't your average happy-go-lucky kid. His deep thoughts and feelings are normally of a grown man. For Steinbeck, all nature, including man, is bound together. The Red Pony is filled with descriptions of natural: weather, animals, and plants, all reflecting and directing events in the story. For example, as the rainy season gives Jody an omen of doom and, later, exposure to the rain fatally sickens Gabilan. And when