The Symbolism Of The Horse In Jewel's Horse By Anse

How can you get around without a horse? Well, with a wagon of course, but Jewel’s horse still makes a multitude of appearances throughout the book. The horse develops a very unique physical and literal meaning to every person. Ultimately the horse represents the independence exists between Jewel and the family because he doesn’t want to be a Bundren.

The family sees the horse as unloving and separate from everyone else that is part of the family, which makes it appear like an extension of Jewel. This perspective is brought to the forefront of the reader's mind initially in the book by Darl, but Anse also has a dialogue with Peabody about it as well. At the beginning of the novel, when Anse asked Darl where Jewel was he described the relationship
When Darl and Jewel are returning home from their job, they notice the family is waiting for them. “It’s not your horse that’s dead, Jewel… Jewel’s mother is a horse”(94-95). Jewel’s mother is a horse because only he has a horse and Addie was only his mother because he didn’t have his actual father in his life so she favored him. Jewel’s mother is also a horse because Darl doesn’t have a horse and he "haven't got ere one[mother]”(101). This expands on the symbolism Darl uses because he manipulates the words to sound like he doesn’t have a mother, but also that he didn’t have one although he did, trying to separate himself from Jewel. Darl later antagonizes Jewel about his mother again while also using the horse to separate those two even more. “Jewel, whose son are you?... Your mother was a horse, but who was your father Jewel?”(212) The use of the word horse here as described earlier separates Darl and Jewel from each other and in this case, Darl is antagonizing Jewel about his father as well basically stating that they are not anything alike. Darl’s use of the word horse to separate himself from Jewel agrees with everyone else’s perception of the horse that separates Jewel from the rest of the family. This symbolism is then used to deepen the already physical
This wall appears to be unbreakable and at its roots, you can’t change where he came from, but the family could make him more included. Today, the roots of teenagers aren’t going to change. They are going to want to be separate from their parents and realize the mistakes they make on their own, but they appear more separate from the parents than what can be expected. The only way to bring them closer is to make them feel more included and getting rid of the item that separates us from the people near us. Like Jewel and the horse, people and their technology bring them farther away from the people around them. So get rid of the horse and put your phone away and get closer to the people around you, because those are the people that really care for