What I found interesting about this story is that it did a subtle switch from present tense to past tense, and then it just ended. I didn't catch it until the second time I was reading through it, and it jumped out at me how subtle it was (which doesn't make the most sense, but I'm going with it). Another thing was that it just reminded me of home. When I go home, all my family talks about is the barn, and their horses. My mother and my little sister love their horses, and my mom and my stepdad fight all the time about the horses. It consumes their lives, so I think that even if I didn't understand first hand what she was talking about during certain parts of the story ("If you live with horses, you soon get used to the feel of a line lying across your palm and fingers...") I think that I can at least understand what it looks like in other people.
It was a short piece, and even after two read throughs, I'm still not entirely sure what it was about.
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ReplyDeleteHi Bailey,
ReplyDeleteWhat an interesting analysis on the tenses. I didn't really understand this piece initially, because barns, horses and rural life was not something I've experienced. But, i realized the author puts a substantial emphasis on ropes and strings, almost as if it's the metaphor that signifies how we are all connected and tied to one another by something(family,friends,etc)--how we are impacted by others.
"If you live with horses, you soon get used to the feel of a line across your palm and fingers--a rein, a lead rope, a lariat........You begin to feel for the life, the responsiveness in any piece of rope you handle, even a coil of baling twine, because you work with horses, that line, no matter how stout or supple, is what connects you to them." (pg.113)
That's what I think. And I hope this helps. I'm anxious to know what you think about it. Ranch Sauce!
Joshua L.
Btw, what do you think about the author's description of ropes? Does it prevent the effectiveness of the metaphor? Because I couldn't understand the terms she was using.
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