Class XI
A SUMMER OF A BEAUTIFUL WHITE HORSE – William Saroyan
ABOUT THE STORY -
• This story is about two Armenian cousins, Aram and Mourad who belong to a Garoghlanian
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.
• 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.
THEME OF THE STORY -
• The redemptive powers of forgiveness, understanding and honour 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 practised 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 need to return that
possession which doesn’t belong to them. They exhibit an exalted human reaction of
wanting to correct something which is wrong.
ARMENIAN GENOCIDE -
The Armenian genocide was the systematic destruction of the Armenian people and
identity in the Ottoman Empire during World War I. Spearheaded by the ruling Committee of
Union and Progress (CUP), it was implemented primarily through the mass murder of around
one million Armenians during death marches to the Syrian Desert and the forced
Islamization of others, primarily women and children.
Before World War I, Armenians occupied a somewhat protected, but subordinate, place in
Ottoman society. The Ottoman Empire suffered a series of military defeats and territorial
losses—especially during the 1912–1913 Balkan Wars—leading to fear among their leaders
that the Armenians would seek independence. During their invasion
of Russian and Persian territory in 1914, Ottoman paramilitaries massacred local Armenians.
Ottoman leaders took isolated instances of Armenian resistance as evidence of a widespread
rebellion, though no such rebellion existed. Mass deportation was intended to permanently
forestall the possibility of Armenian autonomy or independence.
MAJOR CHARACTERS-
• Master Aram – Narrator and protagonist of the lesson. A 9 year old innocent and
lovable Armenian boy.
• Master Mourad – A teenager, Aram’s cousin, who stole the horse to learn riding.
He is animal and birds lover. Descendent of Uncle Khosrove. “I have a way with
Animals”.
• Uncle Khosrove – Huge man with large moustache, home sick, volatile, tempered,
furious, irritable and impatient person. He is home sick and yearns to be back in
his motherland. He has lost everything there. After leaving Armenia preforce, he
feels as if his true home and a part of his identity have been stripped away. This
leads to lack of belonging to the new land of Central Valley- California, where the
Armenians have settled. He had a sense of frustrated anger so for everything he
would roar “It’s No Harm, Pay No Attention To It”, especially when John Byro
says he had lost his horse worth sixty dollars, he says “Ispit on money. Why are you
crying for a lost horse, we have lost everything, its no harm pay no attention to it.”
• John Byro – An Assyrian, living alone, visits Aram’s house, faced issues when his
horse was stolen, had to walk miles to go somewhere, finds the horse in the climax.
Well-tempered and better than before.
• THE HORSE -The beautiful white horse is a symbol of purity and courage. An
emblem of the innocence and uncaptivated spirits of the boys. On one hand it
establishes Mourad as the gifted child who can get connected with animals easily
and on the other, it represents the dreams and passions that people hold in their
hearts.
• THE GAROGHLANIAN TRIBE - An Armenian tribe which has a reputation
for honesty and trust 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.