The Red Pony is a short novel that consists of four chapters. It is episodic, meaning that each chapter could stand alone. They are intertwined, and each chapter plays its part in the overall message and themes of the novel. The setting is on a ranch in California in the closing days of the Great Depression. This novel serves as a window to the history of the times and places portrayed. I think that understanding place and time is essential to fully understanding this story. Or maybe Steinbeck wrote it so well that we are able to understand the time and place better after we read it. .
There are several themes present in this novel, the two most prominent I feel being Jody's journey to manhood, and the theme of life and death, and how interrelated they are. Steinbeck uses great imagery and symbolism in this novel to represent these themes. In each story Jody learns an important moral lesson. The novel begins at daybreak, which symbolizes Jody's beginning journey towards manhood. When Gabilan became ill, it was rainy and stormy. Even naming the pony Gabilan, after the mountains, symbolizes something which Jody yearns for: freedom and adventure. When Jody first meets Gitano, he represents adventure and excitement. But soon Jody sees the parallel between him and the old horse, Easter. This shows Jody's growing maturation. .
The circle of life and death is also symbolized by the use of imagery. There are many symbols for life and death present throughout the novel. The buzzards, (p 35), the old cypress tree, and the bird he kills with his slingshot. Jody's new horse is full of life and vigor, this is important because it shows the beginning of the new generation of life. .
The juxtaposition of the cypress tree and tub of clean spring water represent that death is inevitable; everything in life will pass. In the final chapter, as Jody watches a flock of white pigeons sitting in the black cypress tree, he throws a rock and they all rise from the tree.