The End of Old Horse (Masterplots II: Short Story Series, Revised Edition)
At a glance:
- Author: Simon Ortiz
- First Published: 1974
- Type of Plot: Social realism
- Time of Work: The 1950's
- Setting: Acoma Reservation, New Mexico
- Principal Characters: The narrator, Gilly, Tony, Old Horse
- Genres: Social realism, Short fiction
- Subjects: 1950’s, Freedom, Children, Dogs, Emotions, Native Americans or American Indians, Death or dying, Summer
- Locales: Indian Reservation, Acoma Indian Reservation, NM
The Story
The narrator, a young Acoma Indian boy, and his brother Gilly are in the habit of visiting their neighbor Tony during the long summer days that pass in much the same uneventful way, week in and week out. Nothing, he thinks, ever happens in the summer, so he expects nothing unusual to happen on one particular day when he and Gilly wander by Tony's place.
Tony has tied up his dog, Old Horse, which chews on the rope, snarling to get free. Feeling no sympathy for the dog, the boys do not equate its desire for freedom with their own; they only laugh and tell Tony...
[The entire page is 1383 words long]
See Also:
Simon J. Ortiz (Cyclopedia of World Authors)Simon J. Ortiz (Poetry)Simon J. Ortiz (Identities and Issues)Simon J. Ortiz (American Indians)Theory of Short Fiction (Topical Overview--Short Fiction)
See Also:
- - The End of Old Horse summary and study guide in the eNotes.
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