| Plot Summary of The Red Pony |
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"Jody, main character, gets a red pony, it dies, no real plot line, classic Steinbeck."
R. Mell, Resident Scholar
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"The Red Pony is split into main short stories; The Gift, The Great Mountains, The Promise and The Leader of the People.
Jody, the protagonist is given a pony in the first short story, the gift. He loves the pony and following the instructions of a knowledgable horse handler on the farm, cares for it, fantazising about the great adventures the two would have when after spending many anxious months preparing to break it. However, tradgedy occurs, and Jody is forced to grow up quickly.
The Great Mountains sees Jody learning about the world around him through a wandering mexican, who against Jody's fathers best wishes, stays a night in a small guest house on the ranch. Jody spends time with him, learning from the quite man. He learns more about his own longings and dreams through quite reflection, when the Mexican wanders off into the mountains which hold the young boys fascination.
In the Promise, Jody's hard father allows him to have a mare on the ranch bred, and Jody works hard at chores to pay for the cost. The thrill soon wears off, and the waiting bothers Jody who also has fears the horse handler will do somthing which will lead to the death of the foal. The horse handler, feeling responsible for the tradgedy in the Red Pony goes to extreme lengths to ensure Jody gets his colt, however the brutaility of the circumstances leave Jody horrified, even though he gets what he wants.
The final story, The leader of the people, sees Jody's grandfather come to stay. Although this bothers his father, who dislikes the old mans pioneer stories, Jody is enthralled by them. Cruel words hurt the visitor, and Jody has to once again take a look at his life, who he is and who he will become."
Unbroken, Resident Scholar
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| Review Analysis of The Red Pony |
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Our unique search engine provides a wealth of detail about books by breaking them down into many different literary elements, all of which are searchable (click here).
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Ratings are on a 1-10 scale (Low to High)
Plot
Tone of book?
- thoughtful
Time/era of story
- 1900-1920's
Animal story
Yes
Kind of animal:
- horse
Is this an adult or child's book?
- Adult or Young Adult Book
Main Character
Gender
- Male
Profession/status:
- unemployed
- student
Age:
- a kid
Ethnicity/Nationality
- White (American)
How sensitive is this character?
- middling sensitive to others' feelings
- hard edged
Sense of humor
- Mostly serious with occasional humor
Intelligence
- Average intelligence
Physique
- average physique
Main Adversary
Identity:
- Male
Age:
- 40's-50's
Profession/status:
- farmer
How much of work is main antagonist actually present in:
- almost none
- a substantial amount
How sensitive is this character?
- hard edged
Sense of humor
- Cynical sense of humor
- Mostly serious with occasional humor
Intelligence
- Average intelligence
Physique
- bulging muscles
- average physique
Setting
How much descriptions of surroundings?
- 4 ()
United States
Yes
The US:
- Southeast
Farm/Ranch?
Yes
Farm/Ranch:
- ranch
Style
Person
- mostly 3rd
Accounts of torture and death?
- no torture/death
- explicit references to deaths
Amount of dialog
- roughly even amounts of descript and dialog
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