The Finish Line By Walter Farley: Character Analysis

Friendship is all about trusting each other, helping each other, and loving each other, and those qualities have been greatly demonstrated throughout the short story titled The Finish Line by Walter Farley. As described in the story, we follow one of Pam’s adventures, alongside her best friend and riding companion, Black Sand, (the horse) as they’re competing in a cutthroat race to prove to Alec, Henery, and to Pam herself that they could win. While striving for first place, Pam reveals many desirable personality traits. This includes being empathetic, projecting confidence, and lastly is Pam proves that she is dependable. One of the three main traits is empathetic because she knew that Black Sand has a terrible phobia of the whip, which
is a tool that most riders utilize to make their stead run faster. Instead, Pam decided to make him feel safe, and for feel more comfortable by not using it. For example on page 3, section 1, it is written: “She was telling him with her hands, ‘No whip will touch you. No one will hurt you. Just run your race, and soon we’ll be clear again.” This shows that Pam understood Black Sand’s fear of an object that could potentially hurt him and is