Exploration of Child Psychology through Bildungsroman in John Steinbeck’s The Red Pony

Abstract

Taking the insight from Bildungsroman genre, this research explores the coming of age of Jody Tiflin and his self-consciousness from childhood to maturity. All the four stories of the novella are the part of Jody’s education. In each stories, Jody learns an important moral lessons. In the first stories Jody knows even the experienced person can be wrong. Jody gives sympathy to an old man Gitano and his grandfather in the second and forth episodes. Jody’s father, Carl has cold relationship with these two old people but Jody makes his relation good. Jody faces the harsh realities of life and death of horse in first and third episodes.