What Liesel Thinks Of Horses Summary

As adults, the perception of a child is one very different from our own. The perception we have from the situations we have experienced and the upbringing we have endured also differ vastly. This is very apparent in the story “What Liesel Thinks of Horses”. The perceptions of the things an individual holds dear may not be what others see and in the eyes of a child with a unique life this is more apparent than ever. The struggle Liesel faces when regarding horses is a momentous one that she must debate thoroughly throughout the story. Her idea of a horse has been manipulated and distorted through the stories she has heard from others about their own experiences. Only having other people’s experiences to base her opinion off of and none of her

She does not want to like horses because they have hurt two of the few people around her. We are aware of Katie’s incident with horses when Liesel reflects, “Katie’s hand is scarred all over, from a horse bite” (Ruskovich 168). And, we learn Pig Iron had his struggles when Liesel mentions, “Pig Iron got bucked off and got his ankles crushed. Then he had to go and marry Ruth” (Ruskovich 170). However, there are good things about horses that she learns from others. Like Pig Iron and his horse Candy who he loved dearly. Also, Liesel takes particular interest in the girls at school who like horses and all of the qualities that they seem to share and notices she shares very few qualities with them but still enjoys drawing horses and thinking about them. She also knows deep down she would trade her dog just to own a pony. This whole inner debate about horses makes it very clear that something so small, such as an opinion of horses, can be so important from the perception of a

The first time we see this we read, “But Liesel can’t picture the dead girl any other way, and she can’t look at Katie without thinking of the dead girl” (Ruskovich 168). She thinks about this and the fact that she does not know this person however she must put a face to her and when doing so almost convinces herself this person is Katie or is not her own person at all. Then, we see an occurrence of death again with this line, “Then she sees, on a golden chain around his neck . . . the bent nail that killed Candy, the horse that he loved most” (Ruskovich 169). The reflection of the death of the horse not only reveals to us more of Liesel’s mixed emotions about horses but also gives us better insight to her perception of Pig Iron and his experiences in relation to her own. Then, to add to our knowledge of Pig Iron and their relationship with one another she reflects “a little wooden camel that she found by Joe’s grave—Pig Iron’s son’s grave” (Ruskovich 171). Then, she thinks about his dead son and reflects, “She is pretty sure that Joe grew up. Joe lives in the Back Woods, too. He’s got a wife. Was it their kid who died then? She tries to remember better . . . but the boy eating moths is the only way that she can picture it” (Ruskovich 171). Once, again she is considering death and is second guessing herself on the reality of it. She then thinks about herself and her own death whether the people surrounding