Essay on The Red Pony by John Steinbeck- posted by Adrianna

The Red Pony, by John Steinbeck, is a fictional story documenting the life of a young boy, Jody, and his pony. Jody is a ten-year old boy who receives a beautiful red pony named Gabilan. Jody works hard caring for Gabilan. But one day, Gabilan falls seriously ill from being out in the rain for too long. Jody is terribly sadenned. Gabilan starts to get better, and he is nearly well and healthy again. But one night the wind is strong and blows the barn door wide open, and Gabilan escapes. Gabilan ascends a large, steep hill. In the morning, when Jody awakes, he notices that the barn door is ajar, and Gabilan is gone. Jody's heart beats with "panic and rage", as he races up the hill, following Gabilan's tracks. Jody sees a ring of buzzards circling lower and lower, surrounding dying Gabilan. Gabilan dies of cold and sickness before the buzzards touch him. Jody is tremendously sad.


I believe that a very large portion of the reason Jody cares for and loves Gabilan is because of pride. Jody loves Gabilan, but a lot of that love goes to Gabilan's beauty, not Gabilan himself. I think that if Gabilan were a mangy, dirty, elderly horse, Jody wouldn't care for or love Gabilan at all. In The Red Pony, there are scenes where Jody throws stones at various animals, such as his dog, and a bird. In fact, he kills the bird when he throws a stone at it. He kills the bird for no apparent reason. He slices off his head, and cuts his body to bits. He also throws a stone at his own dog. His dog, whom he calls "Doubletree Mutt", is a mangy, dirty mutt. I'm almost certain Jody wouldn't have thrown a stone at his dog if his dog were a glistening golden show dog. On another occasion, Jody set-up a mouse trap made solely for Doubletree Mutt. Doubletree Mutt stuck his nose in the trap to get the bait, and ended up with a bloody nose.


When Jody receives Gabilan, Jody brings his fellow classmates to the barn, so he can show-off Gabilan to his friends. Jody brags about Gabilan, showing-off Gabilan's new fancy red saddle. When Jody first gets Gabilan, he torments himself by thinking that the mice would have chewed away Gabilan's beautiful tail until it was thin and stringy.
Jody is very sad when Gabilan dies, but only for a day or two. From then on, he doesn't show signs of mourning. I think that Jody was mostly sad because he had lost that pride of having a dazzling, beautiful pony. I don't think that Jody ever thought he and Gabilan were ever friends. Jody thought that he owned Gabilan. I don't think Jody really loved Gabilan as a friend; as an equal.
I believe that Jody loves Gabilan mostly only because Gabilan is strong, powerful and beautiful. I don't think Jody really loves Gabilan, the horse. Having Gabilan gives Jody a sense of pride.