Wednesday, September 14, 2011

The Horse Dealer's Daughter pp. 643-54

"The Horse Dealers's Daughter" contains many symbols of life and death.  Choose one below and write a response that discusses the symbol:
1.  the large house, servantless and desolate
2.  the empty stables
3.  the "gray, wintry day"
4.  the horses
5.  the pond
6.  Mabel herself
7.  a symbol of your choice (one not listed above)

13 comments:

CK said...

In "The Horse Dealer's Daughter," there are many symbols of life, death, and emptiness. One symbol that jumps out is the empty stables. These empty stables are a symbol of the void in Mabel's life. After her father and mother died, Mabel had no purpose in living anymore. Furthermore, when she and her brothers get deep in debt, it breaks her will to live. The stables are empty just like Mabel's life is empty. Her soul is lost, and with the combination of the death of her parents and the huge debt lingering in her life, she attempts to commit suicide. These stables perfectly portray the dreary life of Mabel.

annamac said...

The symbol in "The Horse Dealers's Daughter" that really jumps out to me is that of the pond. The pond obviously symbolizes death, because it is where Mabel tries to drown herself. I think that the pond can also symbolize failure, because Mabel's plan to commit suicide does not succeed. All Mabel can think about is getting out of this world and being with her dead mother, who she almost idolizes. The pond can give Mabel her ultimate wish of death. The promise of death is what draws her so strongly to the pond.

Bwood said...

"The Horse Dealer's Daughter," is filled with symbols of life and death. One of the clear symbols of death is the gray, wintry day that is depicted throughout the story. This is an obvious symbol because of the dark imagery that comes along with the description of the day. Coldness and winter signify death because mostlty everything dies during the winter days. The cold wintry day is an obvious symbol of death in "The Horse Dealer's Daughter."

cdm37 said...

In "The Horse Dealer's Daughter", there are multiple symbols of life and death. As annamac said, the pond defenitaly symbolizes death. Not only is it dark and smells like death, but it is where Mabel attempts to commit suicide. It could also symbolize life, because it is where the doctor saves her life. Although death is easily portrayed by the pond, there is a slight glimpse of life in it.

Aaron Bowman said...

In "The Horse Dealers Daughter", it is evident there are several symbols used to represent death. For example, the pond is used in this way. Right from the get go, I was able to see there was darkness and death portrayed. In fact, Mabel, one of the main characters in the story, tries to drown herself in this pond. Because she is in such "deep" dept, she feels she has no reason to live. As a result, she finds a place "deep" enough to kill her (the pond).

Mary Caitlin said...

"The Horse Dealer's Daughter" has several symbols throughout it. The one that was the most obvious to me was the pond. The pond symbolizes death in the story because it is where Mable tried to drown herself. But like cdm37 said it could also symbolize life because the doctor saved her there. I also think that the way to pond was so cold and empty symbolizes her life. She felt cold and empty which is why she tried to commit suicide in the first place.

Seth Frazier said...

The most prominent symbol in "The Horse Dealer's Daughter" to me was the pond. The pond symbolises Mabel's life, a pond can be beautiful and stand out or it can be dark, cold, and empty of life. Mabel's life had become empty and cold like the pond, and the fact that she tries to commit suiside there also connects the two things.

benson2012 said...

The symbol that stood out the most to me was the pond. Mable was always dragging around, not caring what anyone thought, just meandering through day to day life. The pond becomes a symbol of death here because of Mable's attempted suicide. As the doctor goes in to save her it uses the phrase "dead(ly) cold" on multiple occasions to describe said pond. Yet the doctor rescues her and it is obviously now a symbol of new life for both of them beecause of the newly discovered love they have for one another.

bekaht12 said...

The horses were a strong symbol for the dejection of Mabel's family. As the horses passed, each brother felt remorse and sadness, but Mabel barely noticed. This symbolizes her hopelessness even past the sorrow of her brothers at losing their home. The horses also symbolized the security of their former life. As the horses are forced away from their previous home, one is reminded of the eviction of the family. The symbol of the horses accurately portrays the frustration and despair of the family at losing their home.

K.dubb said...

In the story, there are many symbols of death and life. From the beginning of the story, the house was seen as empty and dead. Before they hit hard times, the house was filled with servant and people with entertainment. The house was full of life and love. Now, once the hard times have hit the place of life has died. When one reads the story, the house is empty. The emptiness, just as CK put it, also represents the emptiness Mabel had felt. Mabel's emptiness is what drove her to attempt suicide. The house not only symbolizes death, but also Mabel's outlook and feelings on life.

Anonymous said...

Jack Fergusson is a clear symbol for healing and life in "The Horse Dealer's Daughter." His status as a doctor is, perhaps, the most evident indication of this symbol. However, it is propagated further in the event of his saving Mabel from mortal death. And not only did he save her from a literal death, he, in doing so, saved her from herself; or, rather, healed her of despondency. He, as far as man is able, filled her with life.

Rubik said...

The empty stables are a symbol of death. To start, usually stables are so full of life. The horses and other animals held there are constanly making noises and eating hay. It is easy to expect that when one walks into a stable he/she is going to see at least some animal in at least one of the cages. But with the scene of the empty stables it seems as if life has been removed or death has approached. What was once so alive now approaches it's death. This is symbolizing her death or attempted suicide.

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