Posted by Melanie Maloski on June 06, 1999 at 22:31:48:
I think that Tova bears Jeff to the "black" horse for two possible reasons. One, because she is embarrassed and does not want the stranger to stare at him or make any comments on what he looks like. Or second, perhaps she, herself is being a protective mom, watching over her son. I also think that the author put in the "balck" Arabian horse because the author wanted the reader to detect symbolism. The "balck" horse, to me, represents death. Perhaps to boy's life is soon coming to an end and it is up to the reader to pull that out of the story. In addition, maybe the mother herself has problems excepting the fact that her son has a disease. I thought that the child acted normal just like all the other kids. His disease didn't fade him at all.
Overall, the story is pretty good.