The Red Pony: Death and Rebirth Essay -- Red Pony Essays

The Red Pony Death and Rebirth The pony still lay on his side and the wound in his throat bellowed in and out. When Jody motto how dry and deadened the hair looked, he knew at last that there was no hope for the pony . . .he had seen it the dead hair before, and he knew it was a sure pledge for death. In Steinbecks The Red Pony. death played an intricate role in the life of Jody, an adolescent farmers child. With the reoccurring theme of deaths association with fury, we are eventually enabled to discover that from one such horrific incident, a rebirth of life can be formed.In Steinbecks classic tale of a young boys coming of age and his cornerstone into manhood, this sense of life and rebirth played harmonious roles together. As a typical ten year old boy in a horse opera farming village, Jody basicallyy felt the need to justify his manliness, and to prove to his parents that he alone could handle immense responsibilities that others of his own age couldnt. To test this submi t faith, a horse, named Gabilan, was handed to Jody by his stem father, ironically called Carl Tifflin instead of dad. The horse, in fact, proved to be Steinbecks reoccurring message throughout the remainder of the novel. Testing the patience amongst man and horse, and also the boys great love for the beastly animal, it is learned of the need to develop discipline in order to cope with life and with death and the violence associated with it.With the death of the horse came the arrival of an old Mexican man, who too so happened to be coming to the crossroads of his life. The man claimed to be coming to the mountain component to die in the place where he so happened to have been born. Jodys immediate reaction to Gitano, as he was called, appear... ...y now must correlate into his own life. completely of Jodys experiences surrounding the violent death of his treasured horse, Gabilan, served to prepare him for an eventual balanced acceptance of life and death. Realistically, Jody kn ew that the pony was going to die When Jody saw how dry and dead the hair looked, he knew at last that there was no hope for the pony. But however prepared he appeared for the death, he still had to assert close to resistance to it. This is expressed when he bashed the head of the buzzard straight as retribution for harming his loved animal. This gory attack on the buzzards at the end of the tosh indicated his irrational, emotional rejection of the violent aspects of nature. This aspect is what the death of the Red Pony helped Jody to realize, for although his friend had passed, a new rebirth of insight into maturity had entered his mind.