READING MATERIAL

THE SUMMER OF THE BEAUTIFUL WHITE HORSE

Written By: William Saroyan

Introduction: This story is about two Armenian cousins, Aram and Mourad
who belong to a Gargholenian tribe, lived in a village in San Joaquin Valley,
California. This tribe was poverty stricken, yet hall marked for trust and honesty
for eleven centuries. The story is narrated by Aram in the first person. It
revolves around the beautiful white horse.

Summary: Mourad had taken away a beautiful white horse to learn horse
riding. The lesson begins with Mourad inviting Aram early in the morning at
4am to ride a beautiful white horse. Aram could not believe this as they
couldn’t offer to buy a horse.

Aram accompanied Mourad to ride the horse; he realized that his cousin had
already become perfect in horse riding. He tried to ride the horse but failed
and fell down from the horse every time. But both enjoyed horse riding. In due
course, Aram got to know that their family friend John Byro had lost his horse
since nearly one month. One day the children met John Byro while returning
from horse riding. John Byro saw the horse but didn’t dare to claim that it was
his horse, as the children belong to Armenian tribe which is renowned for its
trust and honesty. He remarked that the horse was a twin of his horse tooth by
tooth.

In the beginning the boys didn’t feel that they had stolen the horse as they
didn’t have any intension of selling it for money, and intended to return the
horse to his owner once they learn riding it. But the encounter with John Byro
made them feel conscience stricken and returned the horse even though Aram
didn’t learn horse riding. John Byro was happy to find his horse stronger, better
and well tempered than before.
 BACKGROUND OF THE STORY

‘THE ARMENIAN MASSACRE’

In 1915, the Turkish government planned to expel and massacre about 2

million Armenians living in the Ottoman Empire. When the massacres and
deportations finally ended, 1.5 million of Turkey’s Armenians were dead and
many were forcibly removed.

This event is called Genocide – a premeditated and systematic campaign

to exterminate on entire Armenian tribe.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

William Saroyan was born on 31 st August 1908 in Frenso, California,

United States. He was an Armenian – American who made his initial impact
during the Depression with a deluge of brash, original, and irreverent stories
celebrating the joy of living in-spite of poverty, hunger and insecurity.

He is a novelist, playwright and a short story writer. He was awarded the

Pultizwe Prize for Drama in 1940 and in 1943 won the Academy Award for Best
Story for the film adoption of his novel ‘The Human Comedy.’ He died on 18 th
May 1981.

MAJOR CHARACTERS

Master Aram

Master Mourad

Uncle Khosrove

John Byro

The beautiful white horse

Let us know about the characters in detail one by one.

 PEN PORTRAIT OF ARAM:

Aram is an innocent, lovable and easily influence able nine year old Armenian
community Garoghlanian boy who is narrating his nostalgic story. He has
always been conscious of his tribe’s reputation for honesty and integrity.

He was extremely fascinated with horses. The story opens with Mourad his
cousin standing with a beautiful white horse early in the morning by 4 pm. As
in summer, Aram couldn’t believe it because they were so poor that they
couldn’t offered to it. He felt that Mourad had stolen the horse, but his
conscience protested it but justified by claiming that it wasn’t stealing unless
Mourad sold it for monetary gain.

He doesn’t think about the consequences of this act. He envied the bond that
his cousin shared with the horse and hoped to have the same intimacy with it
someday.

He found a way to keep the horse secretly, even after discovering that John
Byro was the owner of the horse. But later agrees to return it, keeping the
values and traditions of their tribe and community.

Since we see the story unfold from a child’s perspective, innocence , honesty and
unbiased quality is added to the narration.

MOURAD:

A teenager of 13, expresses his desire to enjoy life even in grinding pov erty.
He is an animal lover and cares for the birds too. He could understand and
develop a very good attachment with them. He christened the horse as ‘My
heart’ and nick named it as ‘Vazire.’ He repaired the hurt wing of a young Robin
who couldn’t fly and allowed it to fly free in the air. He is empathetic towards
them and had a special way with them which could make the animals and birds
feel calm and safe. He is considered to be crazy and a direct descendant of
uncle Khosrove in roaring. He sang songs while riding the horse that seems to
Aram like roaring. He didn’t reveal the truth to Aram that he has stolen the
horse to save him from the trouble the trouble of telling lie. However he agrees
to return the horse when Aram suggests him to do so.
He is considered to be crazy and a direct descendent of uncle Khosrove,
though his father Zorab is a practical man.

UNCLE KHOSROVE:

He is a huge man with a large moustache and a volatile temper, furious,

impatient and irritable. He is a homesick person, who yearns to be back in his
motherland. His experience had made him so bitter. After leaving Armenia
perforce, he feels as if his true home and a part of his identity have belonging
to the new land of Central Valley California, while the Armenians have settled
and a sense of frustrated anger. Losing his home and motherland is so terrible
that loosing anything does not matter to him. He always feels that he is a
foreigner in this land. Hence he is commonly observed to road,” It is no matter,
pay no attention to it.” He expresses the same to John Byro, when he
complaints of losing his horse and unable to ride his surrey and had to walk ten
miles to come to meet them and the horse cost is sixty dollars.

JOHN BYRO:

An Assyrian farmer lives 10 miles away from Aram’s home. Out of loneliness, he
had learnt to speak Armenian and visits to Aram’s home now and then. Though
he sees his own horse with Aram and Mourad, he didn’t dare to claim that it is
his horse; this shows his high respect towards the values of Armenians honesty.
Hence he remarked that the horse was the twin of his horse.

When John Byro found his horse back, he remarked that the horse has become
stronger than ever and better tempered.

THE BEAUTIFUL WHITE HORSE:

The beautiful white horse is a symbol of purity and courage. It is also an
emblem of the innocence and uncultivated spirit of the two boys. On one
hand it establishes Mourad as the gifted child who gets connected with animals
easily. And on the other, it represents the dreams and passions that people
holds in their hearts. The horse stands as the medium of wish fulfillment of the
two children who have been subdued in the grim poverty. Its progress from
being a self wished and hostile creature to being friendlier, happier and
healthier depicts the evaluation of the boys’ souls from frivolous irresponsible
to a responsible Samaritans who care a lot about the honors, traditions and
values of their family.

THE GAROGHLANIAN TRIBE:

Armenian tribe which has a reputation for honesty and trusts that has been
maintained since eleven centuries, despite being extremely poverty stricken.
They never resort to any unfair means to get money.

The members of the tribe value their pride, integrity and beliefs in right and
wrong. It is this reputation that leads to John Byro to believe that the horse the
children came with must be the twin of his horse tooth by tooth. They admit
that they have no money at all and get mystified over the way in which they are
able to arrange for food for themselves. In fact, they have accepted them being
poor to such an extent that they are able to laugh over it, crack jokes about it
and they term it as ‘comical poverty. Their response to material possessions is
that, they are valueless without the real enjoyment of life. This unique
perspective of the world serves to develop the theme concerning the
perception of right and wrong.

THEME OF THE STORY

The redemptive powers of forgiveness, understanding, and honor of the

community are themes enhanced through this short story.

The story conveys the message that economic challenges and bitter truths are
absolute and should be practiced under all circumstances.

Their poverty doesn’t limit the emotional quotient of the boys. Their love for
the horse is sincere and authentic, not motivated by the greed. They have a
genuine the need to return that doesn’t belong to them. They exhibit an
exalted human reaction of wanting to correct which is wrong.

THE JUSTIFICATION OF TITLE

The title seems quite appropriate as the story is set in a summer. The boys are
free and can focus on the horse riding.

The ideas presented lend themselves with the fruition and full blossom of
summer. The story revolves around the beautiful white horse. Throughout their
summer experiences, they learn essential values like compassion for the animal
and trust among themselves. These are the results of the beautiful white
horse.

The story reaches its climax when the horse is returned, in better shape and
temperament than before, and boys have a renewed sense of faith in both
them and their love of their horse.

LITERARY DEVICES USED:

Symbolism: The beautiful white horse is the symbol of purity, serenity,

calmness and peace. It also represents the aspiration of the boys.

Contrast: Generally poverty and sorrow are highlighted with grey color. In this
story purposefully the author has used the beautiful white horse exactly in
contrast to their life which is covered with grim poverty because they
considered it at ‘Comical Poverty’.