Horses Thomas King Sparknotes

792 Words4 Pages

In a world where the elderly are no longer revered for their wisdom and experience, but instead hunted for sport, the line between satire and horror becomes blurred in “a darkly comic, dystopian yarn of a future in which the aged are hunted on game farms as a means of curbing society's homicidal tendencies.” Reflecting societies' increasing disregard for the elderly and the potential consequences of a culture obsessed with violence. In the short story “Horses” by Thomas King, the author showcases an elderly man by the name of Mason who has a sense of disloyality and bipolarism through the character Mason, who was motivated by a sense of danger. Initially, Mason was content with the idea of the annual hunt, which is normal for him. The author shows he has been through this plenty of times before. When getting ready for the annual game Mason “[leaned on his cane] and felt it in his knees and hips.”(94) Mason struggles to get ready and laughs when he gets "complete camouflage this year.”(94) King’s repetition of phrases to show how he is older and how he is now jokingly referring to his clothes, this makes it clear that he has no problem with the game and how it's of course, not his first time. Because of the arthritis and his hip problems, it shows how he is getting way older and how he might …show more content…

He realizes that “[most of his friends are dead] and [you won’t be able to see your family if you're dead]” (99) “[They are trying to kill us] and we are a part of some [damn system] [how can we kill them? ]” (101). The. Mason is rejecting the idea of escaping, but instead realizing how the games are unfair to the seniors. Him and Joe are now trying to figure out how to take revenge on this cursed system they live in. The two of them both realize they have been misplaced in a society where they have the disadvantage, and they strive to take action and change the course of the