The Red Pony Analysis

A few days before Johnny dies, he tells Ponyboy how he feels about life, “ I used to talk about killing myself… [...] I don’t want to die now.” (pg. 148) Pony has always understood that suicide was not an option but because he knew that Johnny was close to death it is easier to relate to for Pony. This helps Pony become more mature, because even when the bad things overweigh the good, Pony can reflect on this moment and be encouraged to keep going. In the letter Johnny writes for Pony he says, “You still have lots of time to make yourself be what you want. There’s still lots of good in the world.” (pg. 216) This memory will make Pony cherish the good things in life but also remind him to keep going. It will also make him understand that he is not stuck in the social group “Greaser” and that he can choose his own values and appearance. Cherishing the good things in life and understanding that he is an individual makes Pony become more mature. These examples show Pony understanding that life is important, that he should always continue and remembering that he can change his path, making him more

“I knew that what I was seeking to discover was a thing I'd always known. That all courage was a form of constancy. That it was always himself that the coward abandoned first. After this all other betrayals came easily.” (Cormac McCarthy, All the Pretty Horses) Humans are fallen, they have a tendency to be self centered and for one to take themselves out of their own body and see themselves, in the way they think and process images and words is

When you recall growing up, what critical moments in life do you remember? Whatever these memories are, they probably do not even begin to compare with what Jody Tiflin learns in the early stages of life. In The Red Pony, John Steinbeck portrays jody as a young boy who learns life-changing lessons that ultimately shape who he is. Growing up at the turn of the twentieth century in the Salinas Valley expose Jody to the harsh realities of life and death. As Jody ages, the responsibilities of maintaining the ranch grow, further giving him the opportunity to develop as an individual. Additionally, living in a semi-remote area during this time period allows Jody to come of age in a way much different than we would experience in our lives, which certainly

Lying in bed, staring at the ceiling. I was so bored that I was going to meet up with the gang when i heard yelling from the other room. “ Johnny get in here and clean this room! It’s a mess and I ain’t gonna raise messy children.”, said Dad. I knew i hadn’t made that mess. They got drunk and threw a lot of things everywhere. But, my parents just don’t like me much and I’m used to that. After I finished cleaning the room. I immediately went into the kitchen. They don’t care about me at all. They wouldn’t even care if I died. It was a late afternoon and I was starting to get hungry. I looked in the fridge for something to eat. There wasn’t much. Just baked beans, a loaf of bread and ham. I decided I would have a ham sandwich.

In the Novel “All The Pretty Horses” by author Cormac McCarthy, the book develops the ideas about how imagination affects an individual’s willingness to embrace or reject an uncertain future. The people in John Grady's life affect his future in certain ways, the decisions he makes based on the opinions of his peers, to the death of loved ones.

Everyone has a different way to deal with overwhelming situations. It can be more difficult for people with mental illness to cope with the hardships of life. For instance, in “Horses of the Night,” the character of Chris has dissociative symptoms that can be linked to his depression. Margaret Laurence’s short story tells the story of Chris, a young teenager who moves to from a small farm to the town of Manawaka in order to go to high school. The story is told by his younger cousin, Vanessa. As she grows up, she learns that Chris is depressed. The author uses the theme of fantasy to show that he does not cope well with reality. The horses, Shallow Creek, and the children are symbols that show us the fantasy that Chris lives in.

The decimation of a Community is an important aspect of how stability and control are lost in both Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart (1958) and Richard Wagamese’s Indian Horse (2012). In these culturally unique texts, both protagonists experience the transition from being a part of a community to being unwillingly pushed away from it and seeing it slowly being destroyed. The result of both protagonists being forced out of their beloved communities causes them to go down a spiral path thereby losing control and stability in their lives. The progression in which stability and control are possessed and then lost in both novels forces the characters to adapt to the changes at hand.

In the Red Dog and The Turning, the theme of loss is an issue used to shape meaning on the idea of change using specific language choices; the way in which the two themes are seen by the audience to convey the meaning of change. The two texts use the theme of loss to shape meaning of change. In red dog, the scene where john dies depicts a huge loss for the people around him, strengthening the theme of change portrayed to the audience. Vanno, Red Dog (2011) – “Noooo!”. We see that Vanno is obviously affected by the loss of john, after his motorcycle ran off the road, signifying a huge change to Vanno’s life, and the people around him, especially Nancy. “But the blitz truck was gone and the tractor, too.’’- The Turning (2004). Loss is depicted when Melanie leaves the beach campsite to go back to the farm with her family. The audience sees a change in Billy’s attitude, it changes the way he thinks, and impacts the rest of the story. The authors of the two texts use specific language to better portray the theme of loss. Not only in dialog, but visually. An example of this would be the death of red dog. The audience sees the effect of the passing of red dog, as they are all depressed and emotional. ‘’You’re home now boy’’-Nancy, Red Dog (2011), the audience sees the effect of losing Red Dog in Nancy’s voice, a specific language that Kriv Standers used to portray a more powerful meaning of change to the audience, using the theme of loss to strengthen this idea. This idea is further strengthened by the use of context, as Dampier is a small town with a tight community, the loss of a character will cause a huge change to the story, and we see this in Red Dog and The Turning.

At the beginning of the book, Ponyboy is in intelligent, young teen, but he lacks the perspective to understand the environment around him. He can only see his side of the story and fails to understand why others act the way they do. The first example of this is his oldest brother Darry. He thinks Darry hates him because he is always giving Ponyboy a hard time about his lack of common sense, his grades,...

The book “Blood Red Horse” by K. M. Grant is a historic fiction novel set in England and Palestine during King Richard’s Crusades. I especially enjoyed this book because it colorfully retold the story of the Christians struggles to take back the city from the Muslims that were holding the city and disrespecting the sacred pieces of the Christian religion, such as the Jewish temples. The plot is very exciting and keeps the reader enthralled with every turn of the page because of the vivid details and exiting action the author masterfully tells.

We all grow up eventually in life. There are many things that want us to grow faster. In the novel The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton, the main character Ponyboy learns many things along his journey while growing up. Ponyboy has to deal with the death of Johnny. He has to recognize that Darry actually loves Johnny. The conversation with Cherry has changed his thoughts about greasers and Socs. He will continue to detect things as he grows older in his life.

The Red Pony by author John Steinbeck is a very notable book for young adults. The central and recurring theme of the four stories told within this short novel is life and death. The stories also deal with conflict between old and new. Unlike most novels for young adults this book is different because John Steinbeck does not try to soften or hide old age and death, but instead presents these themes as they are in reality. The stories tell how the main character, Jody Tiflin, becomes more responsible as he deals with the disappointments and sadness, as well as the successes of real life.

The author shows Jody gaining maturity when he wrote, “He ached from his throat to his stomach. His legs were stiff and heavy. He tried to be glad because of the colt, but the bloody face, and the haunted, tired eyes of Billy Buck hung in the air ahead of him” (RP 79). Instead of creating another act of violence, Jody accepted the loss and was just upset that another horse passed. Jody gained maturity and learned how to accept loss.

If Gitano first introduces the idea of adventure to Jody, grandfather makes adventure more real. At the end of the story, when grandfather gets upset about Carl Tiflin’s insult to him, Jody tries to comfort his grandfather by making a glass of lemonade for him. Through Jody’s interactions with his grandfather, Steinbeck reveals an idea that unlike his father, Jody has compassion and passion to be a leader in the

In the Last Unicorn, once the unicorn learns that she is the last of her kind and leaves the safety of her forest to search for the others. While in isolation, the unicorn lacks the experience of emotions that carry the wisdom she needs to save the unicorns from King Haggard and the Red Bull. As a unicorn, she cannot feel love and never “can never regret” (Beagle 55), but she fears the Red Bull who tries to herd her into the sea. However, it is not only her lack of emotions that make her weak in the beginning but her failure to control her fear and challenge the Bull weakens her character. During the first confrontation of the Bull, “the moment the unicorn faced him, frozen as wave about to break. Then the light of her horn went out, and she turned and fled” (Beagle 113). Characters need a stereotype baseline to grow from, and in this case, the unicorn becomes a damsel in distress saved by Schmendrick the Magician by transforming her into a human. A character needs to experience a moment of weakness in order to grow as a character and be strong enough to challenge the powerful villains. Her fear adds another dimension to her because the readers know that she is not impervious to failure even though she is a magical creature much greater than man. This confrontation with the bull provokes the growth of the unicorn because as a mortal, she will experience the emotions necessary to be strong enough to conquer King Haggard and his Red Bull. The initial confrontation serves to