Comparing The Red Pony 'And The Winter Of Our Discontent'
2754 Words12 Pages
Supervisor: Ms. Bertram
Kenneth Jackson
2/5/2014
Word Count: 2773
EE Topic: English
Research Question
How is the idea of Moral Value addressed and explored in The Red Pony and The Winter of our Discontent by John Steinbeck?
The Essay
The way Morals is defined on the mirriam-webster dictionary website is 'of or relating to principles of right and wrong behavior' (Merriam-Webster). This is a definition of pure morals but in the term of morals it is not black and white, there is a lot of grey area. This difference between the right and wrong is explored differently in The Red pony and The Winter of Our Discontent both by John Steinbeck. John Steinbeck is an american author that lived from 1902 to 1968 that wrote about the ‘regular’ american…show more content… Jody Tiffin is a small boy around the age of ten and is the main protagonist in this coming of age story. Because of the protagonist being significantly younger than Ethan Hawley from The Winter of Our Discontent, the self critical narrative won’t be as strong. This makes John Steinbeck give Jody a more humble outlook and have his observation of the setting and its people be more whole and aware. After Jody finishes his breakfast early on in the novel he heads to a hill that rises over his family’s ranch and reflects on what he sees. “He turned and looked back on the ranch, on the low, whitewashed house girded with red geraniums” Page 6. Jody’s observation is very simple and key to his character because of the nature of the novel which is a coming of age story. This is the base line for Jody’s character because each of the chapter’s develop Jody’s character a little. Because of Jody’s age, he is not focused on money or social relationships, but rather he is focused on the world around him and exploring every aspect of it as he matures. John Steinbeck uses imagery to gain insight into each protagonists frame of mind which allows the reader to grasp a better understanding of their focuses and…show more content… The reasons why horses are important was because of the setting and time period in which horses are the main power system of the farm and in a way a rite of passage. The two horse experiences are life and death, death of a pony and the birth of a colt. During the chapter “The Promise” The birth of the colt is taking place headed by the farmhand Billie Buck when it goes off track and requires emergency surgery. Rather than beating around the bush, Billie Buck is very direct and forward about the present situation. ‘“There is something wrong” “Oh, Jesus” “It’s Wrong” Pg 74. This manner of talk directed towards Jody is very different than the style of talking that was present in earlier in the novel when he was emotionally less mature than he is in the present moment. This experience is the basis of Jody’s developing moral values. Much like Mary Ellen Hawley from the Winter of our Discontent Jody’s innocence determines how they handle and deal with moral dilemmas. Jody experienced these moral values as he experienced the new life and death of his horses which provided him with a pure value of morals and their need remain that pure just as Ethan did at the end of the novel. To tie this back to the quote, this is evidence of the moral realization that is occurring in Jody and the maturing aspect of it as well. Through Syntax, John Steinbeck gives the reader a