Horse And Warrior Analysis

The sculptures of the horse and warrior are paralleled to Muni, and signify the gap between Muni’s self-image as a young man, and his present state. The final destiny of the horse is taken out of the public’s view, much like Muni, who is disregarded and unnoticed in his village.
The horse, being “moulded out of clay” (page 11), implies a material that is earthly and natural. As opposed to metal or processed material, clay is more suitable for realistic representation of art, because it allows much flexibility. Particularly in statues, an artist can manipulate the material to create realistic features such as facial expressions, convey certain emotions, disclose small details, and achieve an overall sense of man-made creation by leaving delicate
The “scythe” is a tool of earth, used for the sake of farming, which correlates to Muni’s profession as a shepherd. The “bulging eyes” symbolize a young man’s curiosity and desire to explore and observe. His wife, knowing him since she was eight years old, reinforces the correlation between the curiosity the statue is displaying, and Muni’s “craving [is] for big things” (page 6). Old Muni goes “on with his eyes downcast” (page 11) in the village nowadays, since he is now poor and disregarded. The beads that decorate the warrior’s chest, “which look[ed] today like blobs of mud through the ravages of sun and wind and rain” (page 11), seem to advert to emotional memories or sentiments of Muni, as he “would insist that he had known the beads to sparkle like the nine gems at one time in his life” (page 11). Just as these beads seem today as “blobs of mud” that have gone through many weather occurrences, and have been affected by the passing of time, these seasonal changes could symbolize the changes in Muni’s life; the sun representing better days of having “a flock of forty” (page 6) goats, and the wind and rain are the decline in wealth, where “his stock had now come down to two goats” (page 6). In addition, there has been a decline in his physical state, as “he was older and needed all the attention she could give him in order to be kept alive” (page 6).
As the American tries to purchase a statue, Muni is interested in getting to know the “red man” on a more personal level, and shares information in regards to his own life. Thus, Muni tries to assemble all details relating the outward description, but more importantly, details regarding his family, his relationship to his children, and his personality, in order to appreciate rightfully what he sees. The American does not seem to want the pedestal for its historical or spiritual meaning, but instead, his interest lays in the value of entertainment he sees in it, “we’ll stand around him and have our drinks” (page