They Shoot Horses Don T They, By Horace Mccoy
“They Shoot Horses Don’t They” written by Horace McCoy expresses two significant views on life during the Great Depression. This novel is about Robert and Gloria’s struggle to live during the times of hardship after their failure to pursue in life. Robert, the narrator of the novel, is a young boy who hopes to become a film director. After many failed attempts at pursuing his aspired profession, his strong and tough personality reflects his view on fighting for his life and become a filmmaker. On the other hand, Gloria, the other main character in the novel, takes the pessimistic approach on life and had many failed attempts at suicide. By analyzing these two very diverse outlooks we can see discover the background of the lives of both Robert
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Nature in this book can be a symbol of rebirth. Gloria takes all these references to nature and turns them negative. Gloria believes that there is no meaning to life and thus she might be scared to view life as positive or meaningful. Robert loved the park and went there often to escape his rough life. He says, “I was glad she wanted to go to the park. It was always nice there. It was a fine place.” On the contrary, Gloria states, “Let’s go sit in the park and hate a bunch of people” (page 9). Much of Gloria’s pessimistic view on life can be a result of her hardships when she was a young child. Gloria grew up with her aunt and uncle who abused her, which led her to often living and sleeping with men just to have a place of shelter. Another example of nature and how it connects to the awful lives of these people is the notion that the dance contest took place on the pier over the ocean. Robert states, “I used to love the Pacific Ocean: its name, its size, its colour, its smell- I used to sit for hours looking at it, wondering about the ships that had sailed and never returned… But not any more” (Page 16). Robert used to love the ocean and everything about it. Now that he has met Gloria, she has influenced him and and he no longer enjoys the beauty of it. Robert is now in this dance competition where he is struggling and only gets very few minutes to see the sunlight which he
Nature in this book can be a symbol of rebirth. Gloria takes all these references to nature and turns them negative. Gloria believes that there is no meaning to life and thus she might be scared to view life as positive or meaningful. Robert loved the park and went there often to escape his rough life. He says, “I was glad she wanted to go to the park. It was always nice there. It was a fine place.” On the contrary, Gloria states, “Let’s go sit in the park and hate a bunch of people” (page 9). Much of Gloria’s pessimistic view on life can be a result of her hardships when she was a young child. Gloria grew up with her aunt and uncle who abused her, which led her to often living and sleeping with men just to have a place of shelter. Another example of nature and how it connects to the awful lives of these people is the notion that the dance contest took place on the pier over the ocean. Robert states, “I used to love the Pacific Ocean: its name, its size, its colour, its smell- I used to sit for hours looking at it, wondering about the ships that had sailed and never returned… But not any more” (Page 16). Robert used to love the ocean and everything about it. Now that he has met Gloria, she has influenced him and and he no longer enjoys the beauty of it. Robert is now in this dance competition where he is struggling and only gets very few minutes to see the sunlight which he