Literary Analysis on Mercy What is mercy? What does it mean from an agricultural and Christian perspective? These are the questions that popped into my mind when I first read this short story. To me, mercy is giving someone or something a second chance even though they might not deserve it. There are many definitions of mercy out there, but the one I found that best goes with this story is , “an act of kindness, compassion, or favor.” ("the definition of mercy") With this definition there are many points in the story where mercy is shown. The first place mercy was shown was between the son and the miniature horses. The son showed compassion for the horses and began to sneak them food because their owners were not taking care of them. (Benedict, …show more content…
Miniature horses would slowly eat them out of their home. Miniature horses do not offer much of an income. They are fairly useless for anything other than showing. (Facts about The Miniature Horse) Therefore, from an agricultural perspective they are more of a hassle than anything else. The father is just trying to make a living in order to keep his beef ranch running. Most people hear something like this and think that the father is just cold and cruel. However, he is being realistic. Animals are his livelihood. They are not looked upon as pets. It is made clear in the story that he does care for the animals. When loading up the cattle he never used an electric prod once, or had to look at the ear tags to know what cattle he was loading or not. (Benedict, p. 215) When I read it I also saw that he showed some sadness for sending them off to the slaughter house. He cared for each one of them; but he knew that they would leave his ranch …show more content…
When the father caught his son feeding the horses he decided to allow his son to continue interacting with them by having him mend the fence. The father decided to show mercy to his son instead of punishing him and not allowing him to see the horses. Once again this act of kindness shows that the father does truly care for the animals, he just knows that they are not in his life to be pets or companions. When I think of the father's actions the passage from Genesis 1:26-28 keeps coming into my mind. Its says that God gave mankind dominion over all living creatures of the earth. We are also responsible to “fill the earth and subdue it.” (BibleGateway) Because we have been given dominion over all animals, we also have the responsibility to take care of them. If animals are not properly taken care of then we will not be able to fulfill the second part of God's command; “fill the earth and subdue it.” Animals provide vital nutrients and protein to us. Anyone in the livestock industry knows that the wellbeing of the animal is a must for a successful