Betsy Hold The Reins Analysis

In everyone’s life, they have an experience that shapes their character and truly defines who they are. Elizabeth Ann from the excerpt “Betsy Hold the Reins” is no exception. After Elizabeth Ann’s ride with Uncle Henry, her character changes. In the beginning of the excerpt, she was just a little girl that was never allowed to have and original thought. All she ever did was listen to her teachers, endure lengthy lectures from Aunt Frances, and follow the rules. Although, everything changed after Uncle Henry let Elizabeth Ann take the reins in their ride to the farm. The passage states, “Elizabeth Ann had been so near one of her wild screams of terror that now, in spite of her instant absorbed interest in the reins, she gave a . . . little yelp.

But Uncle Henry seemed not to have heard her little howl, or, if he had, didn’t think it worth conversation. . .” Elizabeth Ann was so accustomed to her old life that she was surprised when Uncle Henry did not demand an explanation for her yelp. Later in the trip, though, Elizabeth Ann finally figured out how to steer the horses, and was fascinated by the fact that she was able to have her very own original thought. The story says, “At home, Aunt Frances had always known exactly what she was doing, and had helped her over the hard places before she even knew they were there; and at school her teachers had been carefully trained to think faster than the scholars. Somebody had always been explaining things to Elizabeth Ann so industriously that she had never found out a single thing for herself before. This was a very small discovery, but an original one. Elizabeth Ann was as excited about it as a mother-bird over the first egg that hatches.” From this excerpt, the reader can see how much Elizabeth Ann’s character had changed over the course of one trip. At first, she was just a girl who followed the rules. Near the end of the trip, however, Elizabeth Ann finally realized that she has the capability to have her own, original thoughts and