I wonder if she found herself “getting into another world” when she ought to have been working. The vivid descriptions of the country, the skies, the flora, the weather, and the horses make me wonder if she noticed so much detail because she wasn’t a native of the West. She and her second husband owned a ranch in Wyoming between Laramie and Cheyenne from 1930 to 1946. Mary O’Hara was born in New Jersey, and grew up in New York City. And he pressed his face against his father’s sleeve and wept.” He did not know what had ended the cold, weary detachment and united him to the world again, he only knew that it was his own once more, that it was beautiful and alive, that he wanted to see Flicka. When he could no longer see the stag, his eyes roved over the hills and woods. The boy’s eyes burned there was a choking in his throat, and all through his body a feeling as of rushing torrents. “Ken watched the motionless stag as long as he could see him. One day, his father drives Ken to the edge of the woods to see a huge stag standing guard over his mate. As he recovers, his parents worry that he seems to have lost interest in everything he cared about. But the story does end in hope.Īt the end of the book, Ken has been sick in bed for several weeks. Once I’ve put a rope on a horse, or taken away its ability to take care of itself, then I’ve got to take care of it.” Ken takes this philosophy to heart, and nearly loses his life carrying it out. Take their freedom away, rope them, harness them, that means we have to supply a different sort of safety for them. We shut them up, keep their natural food and water away from them that means we have to feed and water them. “There’s a responsibility we have towards animals. One of the central themes of the story is the ethic Captain McLaughlin teaches his sons. ![]() The conflict between the desire of Ken’s heart and his father’s strong will builds to a life or death situation for both Ken and Flicka. There isn’t time or money for fooling around with a horse that will never be good for anything. Tough decisions are nearly daily occurrences for Captain McLaughlin as he struggles to provide for his family, cares for his animals, worries about money, and wrestles against nature. In the magnificent, indifferent high desert setting, injury and death, for animals and humans, are daily possibilities. ![]() Ken regrets further disappointing his father, but he has lost his heart to the filly, Flicka. He chooses a filly whose mother was half-wild and untameable, which doesn’t bode well for her offspring. When his father relents and Ken is allowed to choose any spring foal or yearling on the ranch, he again exasperates the Captain by choosing unwisely, and refusing to be talked out of his choice. His father thinks Ken is too irresponsible and hasn’t earned that privilege, but his mother believes the responsibility of caring for his own horse will help anchor him in the real world. Ken hopes that this summer his father will give him a yearling colt for his very own, as he had done for Ken’s brother. ![]() His daydreaming makes him unreliable in his work, and his father says Ken costs him money every time he turns around. For the assignment, he had intended to write a story about an incident on the ranch involving the horses, but he sat staring out the window thinking about what had happened instead of writing about it until, suddenly, he was out of time and hadn’t even started the essay. A zero grade on his final English composition contributed to the failure. As the story opens, his father has just learned that Ken has failed the fifth grade. Ken lives with his father, mother, and older brother on a horse ranch in Wyoming. This makes it extremely difficult for Ken to please his father, an exacting former army Captain who is used to being obeyed without question. He has a habit of “getting into another world” while looking at a painting, or clouds, or watching horses run. ![]() With all his heart, Ken McLaughlin wants two things to be friends with his father, and to have his very own horse for his best friend. By Mary O’Hara Thank you, Stacia, for the photo!
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