“The Red Pony”, written by John Steinbeck, is a collection of four short stories talking about the life of a 10-year-old boy named Jody and her family on a farm in California. In the first story, The Gift, Jody’s father, Carl, gave Jody a little red pony as a gift. Jody was responsible for taking good care of the pony, hoping that it would achieve something great as it grew up. Sadly, the red pony became ill due to the rain and died. The second story, The Great Mountains, features an old Mexican man, Gitano, arriving at the farm and hoping to stay. However, Carl refused him and even chased him away because of his oldness and uselessness. In the third story, “The Promise”, a mare named Nellie on the farm was pregnant. Carl promised to give the newborn pony to Jody. However, Nellie encountered difficulties during birth. Bill, a farm worker, has to sacrifice Nellie to save the baby pony. The final story, “The Leader of the People” tells of Jody's grandpa coming to live with them. Grandpa frequently talked about his past as a leader in the westward movement. While Jody enjoys these stories, Carl complained about them. Grandpa overheard Carl, making him realize that he was a has-been person. To grasp the better understanding of this story, one should look at three perspectives: Mature and Responsible, Cruelty of Nature and Humanity, and Family Conflict.
Growth is a process full of pain, loss, and responsibility, but it is also these experiences that make people mature. This kind of growth is not only an acceptance of the practical and impermanence of life, but also a hope for the future. Previously, Jody always relied on his father Carl to take care of him. But after the death of the red pony and Carl’s cruelty to Gitano, Jody grew up to become mature and responsible. Jody learns to take care of the newborn pony. Jody also listened carefully to what grandpa said and took the initiative to care about his feelings. Jody grew up with painful experiences. In The Gift, when the red pony eventually died, Jody experienced his first major loss. This made him realize that life does not always develop according to people’s wishes and sometimes death is inevitable no matter if you were responsible or not. The red pony’s death marks Jody’s transition from childhood innocence to the adult world even though the growing was painful. In The Mountain, the old Mexican man, Gitano, symbolizes the uselessness of life. Carl kicked Gitano out because he would not make any profit for the farm. From Carl’s perspective, he had to be practical and face reality so he had to be cruel to Gitano, saying NO to him staying on the farm. This makes Jody learn the value of life is often defined by the outside world rather than determined personally. Through experiencing different episodes in the stories where Jody was left with sorrow, grief, and anger, Jody transformed from an ignorant boy to his gradual maturity, which was full of pain, responsibility, loss and understanding. Everyone needs to grow up and become mature sometime, especially when encountering difficult times. They need to make themselves grow up so they can take responsibility.
While cruelty of nature highlights the laws of nature and humans lack of control in life, cruelty of humans stems from decisions and actions that reflect human values and judgements.
Whether it is animals or humans, life follows the laws of birth, aging, illness, and death, which are always uncontrollable and inevitable. Jody experienced the death of his red pony, the death of a mare Nellie, and Gitano’s leaving with the old/ useless horse, making Jody understand that life and death is uncontrollable. Carl was too stern and distant as a father toward Jody. In The Gift, the death of the red pony reflects the cruelty of nature. No matter how hard Jody tries, the laws of life cannot be changed. In The Promise, a mare Nellie has to be killed, sacrificed herself to give birth to a baby pony. Those tragedies made Jody feel powerless against nature's cruelty. Jody realized life and death is always uncontrollable and inevitable. In The Mountain, the old Mexican Gitano and old horse represent decline and oldness. Their aging, the laws of nature, caused Carl to view them as useless so Carl had to kick them out from the farm. In The Leader of the People, Jody’s grandpa is obsessed with his past of Westward Expansion but it was considered out of date by Carl. The aging of grandpa reveals the cruelty of nature. From Carl’s perspective, he had to be responsible for people who already work on the farm. Therefore Carl had to be cruel to Gitano. Also, Carl was not a perfect father and made many mistakes, including being too stern and distant as a father for Jody. Those also point out the imperfections of adults. Life is full of unpredictable changes. People need to accept the impermanence of life and imperfection of human beings in order to find the meaning of loss and become mature.
Cross-generational conflicts within the family usually arise from the new generation’s reaction and recognition toward the values and beliefs of the previous generation. Such conflicts are a normal part of family dynamics and could be a great opportunity for growth and learning for both generations. Carl was cruel to grandpa because he complained about grandpa’s Westward Expansion story. Carl was cruel to Gitano because he has responsibility to the family and farm and he cannot afford to add one more person to the farm. Carl’s severeness to Jody makes Jody’s rebellion to Carl. Cross-generational conflicts appear in Jody’s family within a father-son relationship. Specifically, Carl was tired of hearing grandpa’s Westward Expansion story. He believed that those stories were just exaggerations and had no practical significance. This reflects Carl’s suspicion and aversion toward the values of the older generation. Similarly, Jody didn’t like his father Carl being cruel to the old men like Gitano and Grandfather. He believed that people should always be nice and show their respect to the elderly. As Jody grew up, he was getting to understand what he should do and what he shouldn’t do. This implies that Jody gradually became uncomfortable and even questioned Carl’s strictness and authority even though Carl showed much caring in action toward Jody. In other words, conflicts in family relationships illustrate the inevitability of growing up. Increasing capabilities and responsibilities are often accompanied by a reexamination of the behaviors and beliefs of the previous generations.
From the collection of four short stories, The Gift, The Great Mountains, The Promise, and The Leader of the People, each story seems independent but in fact each story intertwines with each other. The four stories discussed the issues of being mature and responsible, the cruelty of humans and the cruelty of nature, and family conflicts. Readers can see those issues throughs the conflicts written in the story, like life verse death, past verse present, hope verse disappointed, and cross-generational conflicts. Over the course of the four stories, Jody grows up from an innocent boy to a responsible young man who understands the complexities of life. Each story pushes Jody toward maturity. Although Jody constantly encounters death, loss, and disappointment, bringing overwhelming sorrow, anger, and grief, those experiences actually provide profound opportunities for Jody’s growth. From those experiences, Jody learns to take responsibility, understand the impermanence of life, realize the cruelty of nature, and the imperfection of humans.