The Red Pony by John Steinbeck: Wonderful… Captivating…
I. The introduction:
- “The Red Pony” is a short realistic fictional novel made by the American writer and novelist “John Steinbeck” and based on his life as a kid living in Salinas, California. The story talks about the main character: the 10-year-old boy Jody and his life, which revolves around many things such as his love for horses, taking care for them and riding them, his relationship with Gabilan the red pony, his father Mr. Carl Tifflin and the trusted helper hand of the ranch Billy Buck who is very fond of Jody and tries not to disappoint him, his mother Ms. Tifflin which mainly does the chores around the house and tries not to interfere with Mr. Carl Tifflin, his grandfather who is despised by Mr. Carl Tifflin and other secondary characters such as Gitano the paisano man, the animals: Nellie/Doubletree Mutt/Smasher/Easter….
-However, mainly, it talks about the loss of innocence, growing up and the sorrow of life; it is similar to a coming-of-age story albeit harsher, violent and sad. That’s why the book was challenged by many churches and boards such as the Georgian board where it was banned due to “harsh mentions of violence. The author uses a lot of symbolism here such as the water tub / the cypress tree/ the red pony etc.….
I. The Gift of childhood:
Life for little Jody; in the 50s in Salinas, California; is simple and wit. He has a normal everyday routine, he wakes up jocundly to the sound of the triangle bell.His mother Ms. Tifflin prepares for him food for breakfast, whilst he is sitting with his rough & tough, strict, disciplinarian father Mr. Carl Tifflin, then he goes to school.
Jody is a simple cheerful kid who goes to an ordinary school and acts like a typical “ranch” kid. His interests aren’t very diverse; but of typical childish fascinations which includes but not limited to: nature, exploration, playing with the farmyard animals and asking his father a lot… Although, he has great love and admiration for horses (obviously) and wants to ride them with his father Mr. Carl Tifflin and Billy Buck the ranch helper hand.
His father Mr. Carl Tifflin, is the classical archetype for the harsh ranch dad, he manages a tight ranch, he works hard, keeps his emotions in check, carries a rifle, and possibly wants Jody to grow up to do the same. His teachings are a bit strict but reasonable; since he wants to teach how to be a responsible man when he grows up, but his toxic manliness often gets the better of him; also, by no means he is rich.
Hence why, Billy Buck, the ranch worker, buys him a beautiful red pony with a beautiful orange — brown-red skin gorgeous hair and strong but gentle arms and muscles. Mr. Carl Tifflin accepted Billy Buck’s kind offer, with the one condition he need to take good care of the pony until its eventual death. Obviously, Jody is very happy and excited about the pony — and as promised to his father — he took great responsibilty for his pony. He brushed it, clipped its nails, cleaned its eyes and teeth (exactly how Billy Buck taught him!). In fact, Billy buck exclaimed proudly that Jody was one of the best horse caretakers and trainers he ever saw.
-But sadly, and as we thought that all was going smoothly, Gabilan (the red pony) got sick from the flu, which concerned Jody a lot. The horse started acting mad and crazy until it died in a depressing melancholic scene… Jody is heartbroken…
II. The Great wonderous mountains:
-Jody is sorrowful and mildly grief-stricken for the death of his adored Gabilan (the red pony). As a great loss of interest appeared upon him, he became bored. He started longing for the mountains, and kept on asking his father curious questions about the mountains:Are there people living there? Are there any people who went there? How is it like?
- Some time has passed, an old paisano man named Gitano; who is well dressed but has a jerking motion when he walks; came and knocked on the door of the house and said to Ms. Tifflin (not verbatim) : “I lived and was raised in this farm an old time ago, and I wish I could live in it until I die”. Ms. Tifflin responded to him by saying that the Tifflin family doesn’t need anymore help. Yet, Gitano said that he is too old to work and he just wanted to stay in the small ranch house near the houses, but the stern Mr. Carl Tifflin didn’t accept his offer and only let him live once.
-As defiance of his orders, Jody snuck out of the house at the cold dark moonlit night to the small ranch house to meet Gitano, when he arrived, he saw to his surprise Gitano polishing a shiny sword. Jody asked him if he ever went to the mountains, Gitano responded by saying yes, thought, he didn’t remember his misadventures vividly and clearly. The next morning, he suddenly disappeared. Nobody knew where he went, but a possible explanation is that he went to the mountains as what was spotted by a neighbor. Jody’s longing for the great mountains still encapsulates him thoroughly.
III. The inevitable Promise:
Jody is not a child anymore. This transformation occurs in life; whether it happened when you were 10 or 12 or 14 or even 17, but it will happen soon or later. Jody tasted the bittersweet feeling of responsibility, adulthood, death, decay and toughness; as he stopped caring for animals’ lives or the water tub that gives life. Therefore, Mr. Carl Tifflin and Billy Buck gave him a difficult and demanding challenge. He commanded him to take care of Nellie; Mr. Carl Tifflin’s loved mare (female horse) 4of 30 years of age (wow!). She is old a skinny and pale-colored in comparison to the beautiful young pony Galiban. He did this because taking care of Nellie is expensive and time consuming, so this action will save time & money.
Taking care of Nellie is hard cause she is very feisty and emotionally unpredictable. And unpredictable she is! Nellie became pregnant with a colt (baby horse). Jody felt a cautious feeling about this event, the same way about the red pony. And unfortunately, he was right, due to several complications, she had to be killed because she was ill. They had to perform a caesarean section on her by pulling the baby out of her stomach. Jody is wary of Billy Buck, but all of that wariness has led to the unescapable to happen: death.
IV. The Leader of his People:
-Surprise! Grandpa sends a letter to the Tifflin family that he is visiting them! But not everybody is happy though…. Mr. Carl Tifflin hates his father-in-law, because he complains about his seemingly tediously mundane and boring stories about the crossing of the Great Plains. However, Billy Buck and Ms. Tifflin argue defensively that he earned his right to tell these amazing stories, since that’s the only fantastic thing he did.
-It was early in the morning, and Grandpa woke up later than everybody in the house. He heard Mr. Carl Tifflin talking bad about him, Grandpa became melancholic. He went to sit down in the porch while Jody approaches sneakily to sit next to him. They have a deep conversation about what crossing the Great Plains truly meant for Grandpa. He says that it is not about crossing the Great Plains, but about leading people across it.
-Jody finally tells him about his dreams on becoming a leader. But Grandfather discouragingly tells him that the days of exploration are over.
V. The Final thoughts:
- I absolutely love the “Red Pony”. It is such a beautiful, enjoyable and touching story with a moving childhood, that truly talks about the sad, sorrowful, depressing and violently harsh 50s life in a tight ranch in Salinas, California.
- The beauty of this story comes from the techniques and the literary elements used in this marvelous creation of a novel. The writer John Steinbeck’s writing style is complex and detailed. Where in my opinion, the extreme detail provides a lively subtext in which the reader has a fully immersive experience.
- Also, let’s not forget the fine and genius symbolism used in the story which includes but not limited to: the cypress tree’s darkness and solitude/the water tub’s gift of life compared to the surrounding imagery of mortality and vile rot/and most importantly, The Red Pony as a symbol of innocence etc.….
- The characters are well written, but oddly, not all of them have enough description. Which could lead to Me not relating to them/befriend them. However, there is an interesting coordination between the events and the characters; which signifies that the book was well indicted. The characters are complicated, I don’t necessarily dislike them, but also, I couldn’t understand them or relate to them with my full capacity of comprehension. But, if I had to choose what characters I would befriend, it would definitely be Ms. Tifflin, Billy Buck and Grandpa. They truly seem like nice, kind and delightful people (at least in my opinion).
- Ultimately, What I learnt in this story is that life is not easy, and it needs a strength and courage and mutual respect to go through it. Yet, life can be great, and fulfilling and engrossing, even through difficult times; this reminds me of a story about Buddha the Great Monk: “Buddha was a monk that thought that life is miserable and humanity had no purpose, so he started starving himself to death whilst sitting calmly at a tree. Then, he heard a musician teaching his student saying: “If you tighten the string too much, it wouldn’t make a sound. But if you loosen it too much, it would break”. Then he realized that, in order to live happily in life, you need to strike balance.”. I agree with that statement.
- Anyways, I would highly recommend this book to anybody, 10/10.