Brick House Analysis

Explain the significance of the “Brick House”.

The “Brick House” portrays certain characteristics that of Grandfather and Grandmother Connor. The “Brick House” is symbolic of Grandmother Conner’s stability and assurance. Additionally, it is a representation of Grandfather’s unfeeling demeanor, as well as his silent strength and power. “At last the front screen door was hurled open....” (p.9), “Grandfather Connor was trumpeting...(p.11). Explain why “hurled” and “trumpeting” are appropriate verbs.

The diction utilized by Margaret Laurence in the passages when referring to the actions done by Grandfather Conner is for the sole purpose of emphasizing his character. The verbiage is accurate because it manages to highlight Grandfather Conner’s

Furthermore, the predictable routine Vanessa grew up accustomed to is reinforced by the seating arrangements: “My father was slouched in the grey armchair that was always his. My mother was slenderly straight backed in the blue chair in which nobody else ever sat. I was sitting on the footstool, beige needlepoint with mathematical roses, to which I had staked my own claim. This seating arrangement was obscurely satisfactory to me, perhaps because predictable, like the three bears.” This passage from “Horses of the Night” emphasizes the idea that all the members of her family are accustomed to a set way of life, one in which structure and routine are

No matter how many failed attempts, Chris continued to persevere. However, in the end he was “forced to return to the alien lake of home”. His life choices, as blatantly stated in the quote, become “narrower and narrower”. He has fewer and fewer options available to escape from his current reality. At a point he manages to escape, even though it is into more turmoil, but in the end he winds up in the same spot, “the alien lake of home.” Due to the life he was born into it became very difficult for Chris to have a larger variety of options to choose from in life. Unfortunately, he was unable to worm his way out of the life he was born into, despite his hard attempts. This fact is supported by the statement, “... all the schemes he’d had, the ones that couldn't possibly have worked, the unreal solution to which he'd clung because there no others.”

Explain the meaning of the title.

The title of the text by Margaret Laurence is titled “Horses of the Night”. It is part of a line from a poem that Vanessa recites: “Slowly, slowly, horses of the night”. This is in reference to the Greeks belief that a chariot led by horses “of the night” carried the sun across the sky for morning to come. The title in regards to the story holds the meaning of how, by the end, Vanessa believes that Chris’ life is now just a slow, neverending night,