Horses Of The Night Analysis

The story “Horses of the Night” centers the theme of depression. The story is told from Vanessa’s point of view, a 6 year old girl, who idolizes her cousin Chris, a teenager who comes to live with them to complete his high school. Vanessa grows closer to Chris during his stay. He would talk to her about his life goals or occasionally also talk about his “beautiful” hometown. She describes Chris as a handsome boy who is very creative, entertaining and a dreamer. She admired the little things about him, how he overlooked negative comments instead of talking back, how he would easily mix up with children etc. He seemed to have everything figured out and he made it look so simple. As Vanessa grew up she started to understand the realities of
life. She realised on her trip to Chris’s hometown that it was not after all the paradise he described to her. The reason why Chris overlooked peoples’ comments was because he wanted to escape his own reality. He could not accept the fact that he was poor, that he couldn’t afford college so he created his own imaginary world where everything worked for him. Slowly Vanessa started to realise that Chris is not the perfect boy she thought he was. The fact that his dreams were slipping away from his hands was dragging him further into the darkness. He joined the army to escape his destiny as a farmer which only backfired on him because the conditions of the war were way worst which landed him in a mental hospital.