The Red Pony
Encyclopedia
The Red Pony is an episodic novella written by American
writer John Steinbeck
in 1933
. The first three chapters were published in magazines from 1933–1936, and the full book was published in 1937 by Covici Friede. The stories in the book are tales of a boy named Jody Tiflin. The book has four different stories about Jody and his life on his father's California
ranch
. Other main characters include Carl Tiflin - Jody's father; Billy Buck - an expert in horses and a working hand on the ranch; Mrs. Tiflin - Jody's mother; and Jody's grandfather - Mrs. Tiflin's father, who has a history of crossing the Oregon Trail
, and enjoys telling stories about his experiences; Gitano - an old man who comes to die at the Tiflin ranch. Along with these stories, there is a short story (taken from one of Steinbeck's earlier works, The Pastures of Heaven
) at the end of the book titled "Junius Maltby." However, this last story is omitted in the edition published by Penguin Books.
colt
. Overjoyed, Jody quickly agrees to all of the conditions his father places on the gift (to feed the pony, to clean his stall, etc.). Jody is so awed at the pony's magnificence that he decides to name him Gabilan, after the majestic Gabilan Mountains
.
After several weeks of training and getting to know Gabilan, Jody is told by his father that he will be allowed to ride the horse by Thanksgiving. Though the ranch hand Billy Buck assures him there would be no rain, the pony is caught in a downpour and catches what appears to be a cold
after being left out to corral. Billy tries to cure the horse of its illness to no avail and finally diagnoses the illness as strangles
, placing a steaming wet bag over the pony's muzzle and entrusting Jody to watch the pony. In the night, Jody becomes sleepy in spite of his constant worry and drifts off to sleep, forgetting about the open barn door. By the time he awakens, the pony has wandered out of the barn. When Billy arrives, he deems it necessary to cut a hole in the horse's windpipe so he can breathe. Jody stays by his side, constantly swabbing out the mucus that clogged the windpipe.
After falling asleep, Jody dreams of increasingly powerful winds and wakes up to see that the pony is gone again. Following the pony's trail he then notices a cloud of buzzard
s circling over a nearby spot. Unable to reach the horse in time, he arrives while a buzzard is eating the horse's eye. In his rage, Jody wrestles with the bird and beats it repeatedly, not stopping until he is pulled off by Billy Buck and his father, though the bird had long since died. The story overall deals with ideas regarding the infallibilities of adults and the entrance into manhood.
"The Gift" was first published in the November 1933 issue of North American Review
.
. Jody asks if he has ever been to the great mountains, and Gitano says he has but remembers little. The next morning Gitano is gone, as is the old horse Easter. Jody searches the old man's things, but is disappointed to find no trace of the sharp sword. A neighbor reports seeing Gitano riding the missing horse into the mountains with something in his hand. The adults assume that this is a gun but, as Jody seems to know, it is most likely the rapier. Jody's father wonders why the man has gone into the mountains and jokes that he has been saved the trouble of burying the old horse. The story ends with Jody filled with longing and sorrow at thoughts of the old man, the rapier, and the mountains.
"The Great Mountains" was first published in the December 1933 issue of North American Review
.
While Jody and Billy take care of the mare, Billy states that his mother died in childbirth and he was raised on mares' milk. That's why Billy is supposed to be so good with horses. Jody dreams often about his coming foal. Billy explains that mares are more delicate than cattle and sometimes the foal has to be torn to pieces and removed to save the mare's life. This worries Jody. He thinks of his pony Gabilan, who died of strangles. Billy failed to cure the pony, and now Jody worries something will happen to Nellie. This doubt also assails Billy, who is insistent on not failing the boy again, both for Jody and his own pride.
Jody wakes up in the middle of the night. He dreams of all the possible things that could go wrong with Nellie’ pregnancy, hoping none of them would come true. Then, “he [slips] his clothes on” and sneaks out to the barn to check on Nellie. When Jody catches sight of Nellie, “She [does] not stop her swaying nor look around." Before Jody can try to return to sleep again, Billy Buck frantically tells everyone that Nellie is ready to give birth. Billy Buck kneels down to her and realizes that “It’s wrong” and that he “can’t turn [the colt].” Billy Buck orders Jody to “turn [his] face away.” A horrible sound comes from the barn as Nellie’s life ends, and the colt’s is saved.
"The Promise" was first published in the October 1937 issue of Harper's Monthly.
Afterwards Jody's grandfather becomes melancholic. He acknowledges that his stories may be tiresome, but explains:
Jody, attempting to console his weary, nostalgic, and heartbroken grandfather, tells him that he wants to be a leader as well. The story ends with Jody preparing a lemonade for his grandfather, allowed to do so by his mother after she realizes he is acting out of genuine sympathy, not in an effort to win himself a treat.
"The Leader of the People" was first published in the August 1936 issue of Argosy
.
Only Junius and his lone son by the widow survive. Junius, with his barefoot child and a hired servant as lazy as he, spends his time reading books and having fanciful discussions with his companions, never actually working. Because of this, his son is raised in rags, though well trained to independent thought and flights of the imagination. Despite his appearance and the intentions of the other children to torment him, the child is well-received at school and indeed becomes a leader of the children. So influenced by him are they, the other children begin to spurn their shoes and tear holes in their clothes.
Except for the teacher, who finds the man and his son to be romantically dignified, the rest of the community has nothing but scorn for Junius and sympathy for his child. The story ends with members of the school board attempting to give the child some shoes and new clothes as a present. Upon realizing the regard in which he is held by society, he loses the last of his innocence and becomes ashamed, realizing for the first time that he is poor. The last scene has the sympathetic teacher see Junius and his son, cleaned and well dressed though painfully so, on their way back to San Francisco where Junius will go back to dull work and ill-health in order to provide for his unwilling son.
produced and directed a 1949 motion picture
of the same name for Republic Pictures
in Technicolor
, starring Myrna Loy
, Robert Mitchum
, and child actor
Peter Miles. The music for the movie was composed by Aaron Copland
, who also arranged a suite for orchestra from the film score. Copland recorded this music for Columbia Records
in London in 1975. Another film version was made for television in 1973
, starring Henry Fonda
and Maureen O'Hara
.
] bought two classics from young readers, Harper Lee
’s To Kill A Mockingbird
and John Steinbeck’s The Red Pony.” In an interview with Eric Clapton
, Billboard complimented the novel by stating that “The Red Pony, [by] John Steinbeck, [is a] wrenching story of adolescent initiation into the world of death, birth, and disappointment.” However, Eric Clapton later complained that “[t]he [book] just made me want to commit suicide. The Red Pony, I could not believe this book. It broke my heart, and I thought there is no happy ending to anything.” Clapton did some research to see why an author would write about a story like this and criticized those types of authors by saying that they are “alcoholic, damaged people with a poisoned viewpoint on life.” He added that “as much as it was incredibly exciting and death-defying to read, it was not necessarily very good for the growth of one’s spirit.”
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
writer John Steinbeck
John Steinbeck
John Ernst Steinbeck, Jr. was an American writer. He is widely known for the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel The Grapes of Wrath and East of Eden and the novella Of Mice and Men...
in 1933
1933 in literature
The year 1933 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-Events:* February 17 - The magazine Newsweek is published for the first time.* James Joyce's Ulysses is allowed into United States.-New books:...
. The first three chapters were published in magazines from 1933–1936, and the full book was published in 1937 by Covici Friede. The stories in the book are tales of a boy named Jody Tiflin. The book has four different stories about Jody and his life on his father's California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
ranch
Ranch
A ranch is an area of landscape, including various structures, given primarily to the practice of ranching, the practice of raising grazing livestock such as cattle or sheep for meat or wool. The word most often applies to livestock-raising operations in the western United States and Canada, though...
. Other main characters include Carl Tiflin - Jody's father; Billy Buck - an expert in horses and a working hand on the ranch; Mrs. Tiflin - Jody's mother; and Jody's grandfather - Mrs. Tiflin's father, who has a history of crossing the Oregon Trail
Oregon Trail
The Oregon Trail is a historic east-west wagon route that connected the Missouri River to valleys in Oregon and locations in between.After 1840 steam-powered riverboats and steamboats traversing up and down the Ohio, Mississippi and Missouri rivers sped settlement and development in the flat...
, and enjoys telling stories about his experiences; Gitano - an old man who comes to die at the Tiflin ranch. Along with these stories, there is a short story (taken from one of Steinbeck's earlier works, The Pastures of Heaven
The Pastures of Heaven
The Pastures of Heaven is a short story cycle by John Steinbeck, first published in 1932, consisting of twelve interconnected stories about a valley in Monterey, California, which was discovered by a Spanish corporal while chasing runaway Indian slaves...
) at the end of the book titled "Junius Maltby." However, this last story is omitted in the edition published by Penguin Books.
Characters
- Jody Tiflin - the young protagonist of The Red Pony is innocent, dedicated, and polite. “He was a little boy, ten years old, with hair like dusty yellow grass and with shy polite grey eyes, and with a mouth that worked when he thought." He is the son of Carl Tiflin and learns to train horses from his role model Billy Buck.
- Billy Buck - Billy Buck is the stable helper, he is an experienced and elderly man. "He was a broad, bandy-legged little man with a walrus mustache... The belt showed... the gradual increase of Billy’s middle over a period of years (p. 1).” In The Red Pony, Billy Buck teaches Jody all there is to know about caring for horses.
- Carl Tiflin - Carl Tiflin is the father of Jody, he likes order and will accept nothing less than a respectable farm. “Jody’s tall stern father came in then (p. 3).” He is strict on Jody, but has a loving touch in him.
- Gitano - Gitano is an elderly man that is the previous resident of Jody’s family’s farm. He and Jody meet in front of the farm where Jody asked why he has come. Gitano says, “‘I am Gitano, and I have come back.’" Jody becomes unsettled about this and “[runs] into the house for help.” Gitano is not capable of working as well as young farmers, but is a “lean man, [and] very straight in the shoulders."
Chapter 1 - The Gift
The book's action begins when Mr. Tiflin gives his son Jody a red ponyPony
A pony is a small horse . Depending on context, a pony may be a horse that is under an approximate or exact height at the withers, or a small horse with a specific conformation and temperament. There are many different breeds...
colt
Colt (horse)
A colt is a young male horse, under the age of four. The term "colt" is often confused with foal, which refers to a horse of either sex under one year of age....
. Overjoyed, Jody quickly agrees to all of the conditions his father places on the gift (to feed the pony, to clean his stall, etc.). Jody is so awed at the pony's magnificence that he decides to name him Gabilan, after the majestic Gabilan Mountains
Gabilan Range
The Gabilan Range or Gabilan Mountains are located on the Pacific Coast Range of California's Central Coast trending in a northwest-southeast direction along the Monterey County and San Benito County line. It is bordered by the Diablo Range, the San Andreas Fault, and State Route 25 to the east and...
.
After several weeks of training and getting to know Gabilan, Jody is told by his father that he will be allowed to ride the horse by Thanksgiving. Though the ranch hand Billy Buck assures him there would be no rain, the pony is caught in a downpour and catches what appears to be a cold
Common cold
The common cold is a viral infectious disease of the upper respiratory system, caused primarily by rhinoviruses and coronaviruses. Common symptoms include a cough, sore throat, runny nose, and fever...
after being left out to corral. Billy tries to cure the horse of its illness to no avail and finally diagnoses the illness as strangles
Strangles
Strangles is a contagious upper respiratory tract infection of horses and other equines caused by a bacterium, Streptococcus equi var equi...
, placing a steaming wet bag over the pony's muzzle and entrusting Jody to watch the pony. In the night, Jody becomes sleepy in spite of his constant worry and drifts off to sleep, forgetting about the open barn door. By the time he awakens, the pony has wandered out of the barn. When Billy arrives, he deems it necessary to cut a hole in the horse's windpipe so he can breathe. Jody stays by his side, constantly swabbing out the mucus that clogged the windpipe.
After falling asleep, Jody dreams of increasingly powerful winds and wakes up to see that the pony is gone again. Following the pony's trail he then notices a cloud of buzzard
Buzzard
A buzzard is one of several large birds, but there are a number of meanings as detailed below.-Old World:In the Old World Buzzard can mean:* One of several medium-sized, wide-ranging raptors with a robust body and broad wings....
s circling over a nearby spot. Unable to reach the horse in time, he arrives while a buzzard is eating the horse's eye. In his rage, Jody wrestles with the bird and beats it repeatedly, not stopping until he is pulled off by Billy Buck and his father, though the bird had long since died. The story overall deals with ideas regarding the infallibilities of adults and the entrance into manhood.
"The Gift" was first published in the November 1933 issue of North American Review
North American Review
The North American Review was the first literary magazine in the United States. Founded in Boston in 1815 by journalist Nathan Hale and others, it was published continuously until 1940, when publication was suspended due to J. H. Smyth, who had purchased the magazine, being unmasked as a Japanese...
.
Chapter 2 - The Great Mountains
Jody is bored. He looks with longing at the great mountains, wishing he could explore them. Suddenly, an old Mexican man named Gitano appears, claiming he was born on the ranch. Gitano requests to stay on the farm until he dies. Carl Tiflin refuses, although he does allow him to stay the night, noting that the old man is very similar to his useless old horse, Easter. That night, Jody secretly visits Gitano. He is polishing his old rapierRapier
A rapier is a slender, sharply pointed sword, ideally used for thrusting attacks, used mainly in Early Modern Europe during the 16th and 17th centuries.-Description:...
. Jody asks if he has ever been to the great mountains, and Gitano says he has but remembers little. The next morning Gitano is gone, as is the old horse Easter. Jody searches the old man's things, but is disappointed to find no trace of the sharp sword. A neighbor reports seeing Gitano riding the missing horse into the mountains with something in his hand. The adults assume that this is a gun but, as Jody seems to know, it is most likely the rapier. Jody's father wonders why the man has gone into the mountains and jokes that he has been saved the trouble of burying the old horse. The story ends with Jody filled with longing and sorrow at thoughts of the old man, the rapier, and the mountains.
"The Great Mountains" was first published in the December 1933 issue of North American Review
North American Review
The North American Review was the first literary magazine in the United States. Founded in Boston in 1815 by journalist Nathan Hale and others, it was published continuously until 1940, when publication was suspended due to J. H. Smyth, who had purchased the magazine, being unmasked as a Japanese...
.
Chapter 3 - The Promise
Jody's father Carl thinks it is time for Jody to learn more responsibility, so he arranges for Jody to take the mare Nellie to be serviced at a neighbor's ranch. The stud fee is five dollars and Jody works hard all summer to satisfy the five dollar credit his father held over him. After a few months, Billy Buck determines Nellie is pregnant.While Jody and Billy take care of the mare, Billy states that his mother died in childbirth and he was raised on mares' milk. That's why Billy is supposed to be so good with horses. Jody dreams often about his coming foal. Billy explains that mares are more delicate than cattle and sometimes the foal has to be torn to pieces and removed to save the mare's life. This worries Jody. He thinks of his pony Gabilan, who died of strangles. Billy failed to cure the pony, and now Jody worries something will happen to Nellie. This doubt also assails Billy, who is insistent on not failing the boy again, both for Jody and his own pride.
Jody wakes up in the middle of the night. He dreams of all the possible things that could go wrong with Nellie’ pregnancy, hoping none of them would come true. Then, “he [slips] his clothes on” and sneaks out to the barn to check on Nellie. When Jody catches sight of Nellie, “She [does] not stop her swaying nor look around." Before Jody can try to return to sleep again, Billy Buck frantically tells everyone that Nellie is ready to give birth. Billy Buck kneels down to her and realizes that “It’s wrong” and that he “can’t turn [the colt].” Billy Buck orders Jody to “turn [his] face away.” A horrible sound comes from the barn as Nellie’s life ends, and the colt’s is saved.
"The Promise" was first published in the October 1937 issue of Harper's Monthly.
Chapter 4 - The Leader of the People
Jody's grandfather comes to visit. Carl complains about how his father-in-law is constantly re-telling the same stories about leading a wagon train across the plains. Mrs. Tiflin and Billy, however, believe he's earned the right to tell of his adventures, and Jody is delighted to hear them no matter how many times. The morning after his arrival, Carl complains about Grandfather's stories at the breakfast table: "Why can't he forget it, now it's done?...He came across the plains. All right! Now it's finished. Nobody wants to hear about it over and over." At that moment Grandfather walks into the room.Afterwards Jody's grandfather becomes melancholic. He acknowledges that his stories may be tiresome, but explains:
Jody, attempting to console his weary, nostalgic, and heartbroken grandfather, tells him that he wants to be a leader as well. The story ends with Jody preparing a lemonade for his grandfather, allowed to do so by his mother after she realizes he is acting out of genuine sympathy, not in an effort to win himself a treat.
"The Leader of the People" was first published in the August 1936 issue of Argosy
Argosy (magazine)
Argosy was an American pulp magazine, published by Frank Munsey. It is generally considered to be the first American pulp magazine. The magazine began as a general information periodical entitled The Golden Argosy, targeted at the boys adventure market.-Launch of Argosy:In late September 1882,...
.
Junius Maltby
The short story concerns a man named Junius Maltby, who, dissatisfied with his life as an accountant in San Francisco, finally breaks with that life on the advice of his doctor, who recommends drier weather for his respiratory illness. Junius, in fairer climate, takes boarding with a widow and her children in his convalescence. After some time, with the townsfolk beginning to talk about the single man living so long with the widow, Junius promptly marries his landlord and becomes the head of the well-kept, profitable ranch/farm. The widow releases her working man and tries to put Junius to work on the farmstead, but Junius, having become accustomed to a life of leisure, ignores his duties. Eventually the farm falls into disrepair, the family goes broke and without enough food or clothes, and the widow and her own children succumb to disease.Only Junius and his lone son by the widow survive. Junius, with his barefoot child and a hired servant as lazy as he, spends his time reading books and having fanciful discussions with his companions, never actually working. Because of this, his son is raised in rags, though well trained to independent thought and flights of the imagination. Despite his appearance and the intentions of the other children to torment him, the child is well-received at school and indeed becomes a leader of the children. So influenced by him are they, the other children begin to spurn their shoes and tear holes in their clothes.
Except for the teacher, who finds the man and his son to be romantically dignified, the rest of the community has nothing but scorn for Junius and sympathy for his child. The story ends with members of the school board attempting to give the child some shoes and new clothes as a present. Upon realizing the regard in which he is held by society, he loses the last of his innocence and becomes ashamed, realizing for the first time that he is poor. The last scene has the sympathetic teacher see Junius and his son, cleaned and well dressed though painfully so, on their way back to San Francisco where Junius will go back to dull work and ill-health in order to provide for his unwilling son.
Adaptations
Lewis MilestoneLewis Milestone
Lewis Milestone was a Russian-American motion picture director. He is known for directing Two Arabian Knights and All Quiet on the Western Front , both of which received Academy Awards for Best Director...
produced and directed a 1949 motion picture
The Red Pony (1949 film)
The Red Pony is a 1949 film adaptation of John Steinbeck's collection of related short stories, individually written and published in the 1930's, with a book published in 1937 and again in 1945 under the title The Red Pony. Steinbeck also wrote the screenplay for this film...
of the same name for Republic Pictures
Republic Pictures
Republic Pictures was an independent film production-distribution corporation with studio facilities, operating from 1934 through 1959, and was best known for specializing in westerns, movie serials and B films emphasizing mystery and action....
in Technicolor
Technicolor
Technicolor is a color motion picture process invented in 1916 and improved over several decades.It was the second major process, after Britain's Kinemacolor, and the most widely used color process in Hollywood from 1922 to 1952...
, starring Myrna Loy
Myrna Loy
Myrna Loy was an American actress. Trained as a dancer, she devoted herself fully to an acting career following a few minor roles in silent films. Originally typecast in exotic roles, often as a vamp or a woman of Asian descent, her career prospects improved following her portrayal of Nora Charles...
, Robert Mitchum
Robert Mitchum
Robert Charles Durman Mitchum was an American film actor, author, composer and singer and is #23 on the American Film Institute's list of the greatest male American screen legends of all time...
, and child actor
Child actor
The term child actor or child actress is generally applied to a child acting in motion pictures or television, but also to an adult who began his or her acting career as a child; to avoid confusion, the latter is also called a former child actor...
Peter Miles. The music for the movie was composed by Aaron Copland
Aaron Copland
Aaron Copland was an American composer, composition teacher, writer, and later in his career a conductor of his own and other American music. He was instrumental in forging a distinctly American style of composition, and is often referred to as "the Dean of American Composers"...
, who also arranged a suite for orchestra from the film score. Copland recorded this music for Columbia Records
Columbia Records
Columbia Records is an American record label, owned by Japan's Sony Music Entertainment, operating under the Columbia Music Group with Aware Records. It was founded in 1888, evolving from an earlier enterprise, the American Graphophone Company — successor to the Volta Graphophone Company...
in London in 1975. Another film version was made for television in 1973
1973 in television
The year 1973 in television involved some significant events.Below is a list of television-related events in 1973.-Events:*January 4 – The record breaking, long-running comedy series in the UK and the world "Last of the Summer Wine" starts as a 30-minute pilot on BBC1's Comedy Playhouse show....
, starring Henry Fonda
Henry Fonda
Henry Jaynes Fonda was an American film and stage actor.Fonda made his mark early as a Broadway actor. He also appeared in 1938 in plays performed in White Plains, New York, with Joan Tompkins...
and Maureen O'Hara
Maureen O'Hara
Maureen O'Hara is an Irish film actress and singer. The famously red-headed O'Hara has been noted for playing fiercely passionate heroines with a highly sensible attitude. She often worked with director John Ford and longtime friend John Wayne...
.
Reception
A number of famous readers have commented on the novel. The St. Petersburg Times noted that “News reports said that [President Barack ObamaBarack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II is the 44th and current President of the United States. He is the first African American to hold the office. Obama previously served as a United States Senator from Illinois, from January 2005 until he resigned following his victory in the 2008 presidential election.Born in...
] bought two classics from young readers, Harper Lee
Harper Lee
Nelle Harper Lee is an American author known for her 1960 Pulitzer-Prize-winning novel To Kill a Mockingbird, which deals with the issues of racism that were observed by the author as a child in her hometown of Monroeville, Alabama...
’s To Kill A Mockingbird
To Kill a Mockingbird
To Kill a Mockingbird is a novel by Harper Lee published in 1960. It was instantly successful, winning the Pulitzer Prize, and has become a classic of modern American literature...
and John Steinbeck’s The Red Pony.” In an interview with Eric Clapton
Eric Clapton
Eric Patrick Clapton, CBE, is an English guitarist and singer-songwriter. Clapton is the only three-time inductee to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame: once as a solo artist, and separately as a member of The Yardbirds and Cream. Clapton has been referred to as one of the most important and...
, Billboard complimented the novel by stating that “The Red Pony, [by] John Steinbeck, [is a] wrenching story of adolescent initiation into the world of death, birth, and disappointment.” However, Eric Clapton later complained that “[t]he [book] just made me want to commit suicide. The Red Pony, I could not believe this book. It broke my heart, and I thought there is no happy ending to anything.” Clapton did some research to see why an author would write about a story like this and criticized those types of authors by saying that they are “alcoholic, damaged people with a poisoned viewpoint on life.” He added that “as much as it was incredibly exciting and death-defying to read, it was not necessarily very good for the growth of one’s spirit.”