"The Summer of the Beautiful White Horse"
By: William Saroyan
Do you think Mourad is "crazy"?
My opinion is that Mourad is crazy. He has stolen a horse, which is very valuable, from a farmer. He also broke his family legacy of honesty. For example, "my cousin Mourad, who was considered crazy by everybody who knew him except me, came to my house at four in the morning and woke me up by tapping on the window of my room." (Page 1) Mourad is crazy enough to wake up Aram, the main character, and show the horse he had stolen. In addition, "The another visitor arrived, a farmer named John Byro, an Assyrian who, out of loneliness, had learned to speak Armenian. My mother brought the lonely visitor coffee and tobacco and he rolled a cigarette and sipped and smoked, and then at last, sighing sadly, he said, My white horse which was stolen last month is still gone. I cannot understand it." (Page 7) Also, Mourad has had this horse for over a month and has left the owner of the horse confused.
My opinion is that Mourad is crazy. He has stolen a horse, which is very valuable, from a farmer. He also broke his family legacy of honesty. For example, "my cousin Mourad, who was considered crazy by everybody who knew him except me, came to my house at four in the morning and woke me up by tapping on the window of my room." (Page 1) Mourad is crazy enough to wake up Aram, the main character, and show the horse he had stolen. In addition, "The another visitor arrived, a farmer named John Byro, an Assyrian who, out of loneliness, had learned to speak Armenian. My mother brought the lonely visitor coffee and tobacco and he rolled a cigarette and sipped and smoked, and then at last, sighing sadly, he said, My white horse which was stolen last month is still gone. I cannot understand it." (Page 7) Also, Mourad has had this horse for over a month and has left the owner of the horse confused.
Vocabulary
Consequently: The term "consequently" can be defined as an outcome, or a result of something, as used in the sentence "Consequently, even thought I could see the horse, so magnificent; even though I could smell it, so lovely; even though I could hear it breathing, so exciting; I couldn't believe the horse had anything to do with my cousin Mourad or with me or with any of the other members of our family, asleep or awake, because I knew my cousin Mourad couldn't have bought the horse, and if he couldn't have bought it he must have stolen it, and I refused to believe he had stolen it." (Page 2)
Pious: The term "pious" can be defined as holy or religious as used in the sentence "There was a pious stillness and humor in each of them which on the one hand delighted me and on the other frightened me." (Page 3)
Irritable: The term "irritable" can be defined as annoying as used in the sentence "Before him was our uncle Khosrove, an enormous man with a powerful head of black hair and the largest mustache in the San Joaquin Valley, a man so furious in temper, so irritable, so impatient that he stopped anyone from talking by roaring, It is no harm; pay no attention to it." (Page 4)
Capricious: The term "capricious" can be defined as random as used in the sentence "The distribution of the various kinds of spirit of our tribe had been from the beginning capricious and vagrant." (Page 4)
Vagrant: The term "vagrant" can be defined as careless as used in the sentence "The distribution of the various kinds of spirit of our tribe had been from the beginning capricious and vagrant." (Page 4)
Surrey: The term "surrey" can be defined as a horse-drawn carriage as used in the sentence "That may be all right for you, a city dweller, to say, but what about my surrey?" (Page 7)
Pious: The term "pious" can be defined as holy or religious as used in the sentence "There was a pious stillness and humor in each of them which on the one hand delighted me and on the other frightened me." (Page 3)
Irritable: The term "irritable" can be defined as annoying as used in the sentence "Before him was our uncle Khosrove, an enormous man with a powerful head of black hair and the largest mustache in the San Joaquin Valley, a man so furious in temper, so irritable, so impatient that he stopped anyone from talking by roaring, It is no harm; pay no attention to it." (Page 4)
Capricious: The term "capricious" can be defined as random as used in the sentence "The distribution of the various kinds of spirit of our tribe had been from the beginning capricious and vagrant." (Page 4)
Vagrant: The term "vagrant" can be defined as careless as used in the sentence "The distribution of the various kinds of spirit of our tribe had been from the beginning capricious and vagrant." (Page 4)
Surrey: The term "surrey" can be defined as a horse-drawn carriage as used in the sentence "That may be all right for you, a city dweller, to say, but what about my surrey?" (Page 7)
Reflection
A moral is a life lesson that is derived from a story or an experience. Morals teach us something important about life. A moral my family has passed down to me is being honest to everybody. Honesty is an important concept in life. Aram's family in "The Summer of the Beautiful White Horse" has a legacy of being honest to everyone. For example, "Most important of all, though, we were famous for our honesty, We had been famous for our honesty for something like eleven centuries, even when we had been the wealthiest family in what we liked to think was the world. We were proud first, honest next, and after that we believed in right and wrong. None of us would take advantage of anybody in the world, let alone steal." (Page 2) Aram's family has a long history of being honest in "The Summer of the Beautiful White Horse". I think the moral my family passed down to me is being honest.