Posted by Mike Taing on June 04, 1999 at 09:01:42:
The significance of "Tova's bearing Jeff toward the black horse" is that it represents death is every aspect. Jeff is going through therapy for his disease--perhaps not curable. He is young and quite different from other kids who have the same disease. He wants to normal like other kids, but he knows that it isn't possible with his disease. He doesn't know much about his disease and why he has to go to the hospital every so often, but he seems as though he accepts it. Tova, on the other hand, is does not accept it. She is practically in a state of denial. She wants to protect Jeff and relieve his pain, but she knows that deep down that whatever she tries to do to lessen the pain will not make the disease go away. She does not know what to do--whether to live out each day with her kid or let him suffer and die. Orth is trying to tell us that it is hard on parents with such a situation. The denial stage or the acceptance stage. In going back to the significance of Tova's bearing Jeff toward the black horse, I think that Tova has accepted Jeff's disease. She knows that therapy might not cure his disease and that he might die. The color black is dark, mysterious, and often times used to symbolize death or death in the making. In the story, Tova does not reveal to the world her son's disease. By not telling people about it, it decreases the chances of finding a cure for Jeff's disease. As the saying goes, "you can't fix what you can't see." So the real significance is that by Tova's secrecy she just pushed Jeff towards death.