Critical Analysis

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Critical Analysis

In the two stories The Beautiful Blue Horse and You make your own Life, The authors have brought to attention the descriptive analysis of characters. Particularly, in the first story, author Tucci talks about a beautiful blue horse, which was regarded as blue by its owners. The horse was one of a kind in the manner in which it displayed an impressive level of intelligence and beauty. The second story encompasses a young man who was in love with a barber’s wife. The man was described as an ambitious person who wanted it all but lost everything, save for his life. In the tow stories, there is much irony being presented. At the same time, much of the unexpected turn of events mark new episodes that make the narratives more fascinating. In addition, several themes seem to be running in the two stories. These characters can be interconnected between the two stories to provide a form of equilibrium for the two narratives.

The theme of loneliness is present in the two stories. The Horse, which was later named Nello, was brought from a foreign country and did not seem to have any companions prior to being bought. The horse belonged to a horse dealer, who was too busy to provide company to the Horse after a long day of work. His wife could do so, but the horse was afraid of her. This was because the horse was able to witness the wife washing clothes and beating them onto a rock to dry, which scared him. The husband and the wife being the only two owners were unable to be the horse’s friend, and this left him feeling isolated in a foreign country. In the story of the barber, the man (whose name was not provided) happened to be in love with the barber a few years back before they got married. The man made several futile attempts to win her heart. According to the barber, the current wife seemed to be in love with him, even though he still maintained friendship with the man.

The man would always take the woman down to the river, after which the woman would provide an account to the barber. When the man got sick, the woman made regular visits to see how he was progressing. Eventually, the woman and the barber got married, causing the man’s heart to break. His loneliness took the better of him, and it advanced to depression. His depression made him attempt suicide. In the two stories, one may argue that the horse and the lonely man could have provided company to each other and ease their miseries of the feeling of being unwanted. As illustrated in the two narratives, other family members and couples did not experience loneliness as much as the forsaken man and Nello the horse.

Another similarity brought out is the theme of familiarity amongst strangers. In the story of the horse, a family goes to a stable to purchase a horse from a horse dealer. In the process of the negotiation and business transaction, the horse dealer, the mother and father reveal much about their personal lives. In what was expected to be a simple transaction turns out to be intellectual and personal discourse between these three characters. The horse dealer reveals much about his life and general attitude towards life. He utters statements like; “But I am tired, and besides, I am ignorant. You see, my wife loves the horse, but what can she say to him in the evening? I said to her the other day ‘talk to the poor animal while I eat my dinner.’” The father on the other hand revealed a great deal about his family background and moral stand towards the value of money. In the second story, in what was imagined to be a brief stay at the barbershop turned out to be an in depth description of the barber’s customer. He revealed much about the man’s personal life, such as his heartbreak, depression, drinking problem, homicide attempt and finally suicide attempt. All these are characteristics of people that one would not normally expect to hear from a first encounter. Due to the interactive nature of these five characters, that is the barber, the barber’s customer, the horse dealer, the father and the mother, it would be interesting to consider a conversation between them all together.

In the story, there is a theme of hospitality among the characters. In the story of the blue horse, the parents of the narrator complete the business transaction. After they have been able to purchase the horse, they decide to invite the horse dealer to their place so that they can be able to be acquainted. In the story of the barber, the man offers to cut the man’s hair free despite the fact that he had tried to kill him through lacing alcohol with poison, which he then offered to the barber. The barbers act could be seen as an unexpected kindness, despite what the man did to him. The barber was also probably sympathetic to the desolate state of the man especially after he was heartbroken and fell sick.

Perhaps the greatest difference in the two stories is the disposition between the characters. While the barber provides the narrative from a somewhat comic perspective, the narrative of the story of the blue horse is given on a relatively serious tone. While providing a description of the character that is undergoing a serious and depressive state in his life, he describes him in comical ways, as if to indicate that his experience is amusing or a source of entertainment for his customers. For instance, the barber begins by mentioning that the man had suffered from tuberculosis. After this, the barber then mentioned that he had tried to kill himself; “”Not satisfied with TB,” he said with a grin. It was a small firm, friendly grin. So long, Fred. Cheero, Albert.” As if to indicate that Tuberculosis was not bad enough to end his life, now he also wanted quicker methods to do so.

However, the narrator of the blue horse seems to be taking a more serious, philosophical approach to life from his narrations. It could be because of the environment in which he was brought up, since the father is always serious and more often than not pessimistic in his outlook on life. Towards the end of the story, the narrator also indicates that his family was going through hard times, which was indicative of the difficulty in deriving humour from the simple experiences he had. The narrator also personifies the horse to make it seem as though he would be able to hold conversations with it. This is evident from statements such as “Papa, I will talk to that horse every day. He won’t have to feel lonely anymore” and “This horse is my companion. I don’t know what I am going to do without it.”