Maturity In John Steinbeck's The Red Pony

What affects a main character’s progression towards maturity in a novel? John Steinbeck’s The Red Pony establishes character maturity through the main character, Jody Tiflin. Throughout the book, the main character matures during each section of the book, and as he develops, he also gains knowledge about the world around him and how it works. Jody’s maturity in The Red Pony by John Steinbeck is affected by the symbolism of the book. This theme can be proven through the symbols in the book. The symbols represent death, curiosity, mystery, and the past. On the contrary, some support the fact that symbolism is the main factor that triggers Jody’s emergence into maturity, but some on the opposing side of the debate may try to prove that the setting of the book influences Jody’s emergence into maturity. The setting of the novel is effective as well as the symbolism. The setting helps the main character to understand the cycle of life and death and dissolution of the past (Bernardo). The death of Nellie and the birth of the colt shows how the setting affects the novel as the character understands life and death and that nature is dependent on life (Bernardo). The setting also shows the

The buzzards are introduced in the story with the description “Over the hillside two big black buzzards sailed low to the ground and their shadows slipped smoothly and quickly ahead of them” (Steinbeck 6). In The Red Pony, the buzzards symbolize death and evil.. Their deadly character is shown with the book saying, “The buzzards overlooked nothing” (Steinbeck 6). Jody understands that the buzzards bring death and cause harm to innocent animals (Hart 140). As the buzzards symbolize death, it foreshadows the red pony’s death as Jody sees buzzards surrounding the pony as it is dying. Due to this event, Jody is introduced to the “existence of death and evil in the world”(Critical Companion to John Steinbeck