Gabilan, the Red Pony

It’s Christmas. I should write about the happy celebration of the merriest season of the year. But I decided to write about a John Steinbeck's book, The Red Pony. It is about a ten-year-old farm boy, Jody Tiflin, who lost his red pony to strangles, an infectious disease. I wanted to write down what I thought I had learned from this sad story.

In this book, I feel the author illustrates how people react toward devastating losses. In addition, this story shows that bad things do happen to good people.

Gabilan was in an open corral enjoying a day of sunshine. But an unexpected down pour got it soaked wet and made it ill. The best cares the family’s experienced ranch-hand, Billy Buck, and Jody provided did not help the poor pony. It suffered a great deal before it died in few days. Both, Jody and Billy had the best interest of this young horse in mind. But the Mother Nature had the last word. She decided to give a young horse a cold and untimely shower. I can feel the pain this gentle boy and his friend suffered from their great loss of a healthy pet. This sad tale tells us bad things do happen to good people.

I nearly skipped the part of the book that tells what Jody did after he found his dead pony in the open yard. Of course, he was devastated. He killed the buzzard who was about to feast on the dead horse. What he did to that bird was so brutal. Perhaps this is what a devastated person will unconsciously do when facing the greatest pain of his life such as the death of his beloved pet. - Ayee