A man named horse

1. Why does the young man decide to go West?
* In the year 1845, he left home and went out west, far beyond the country’s creeping frontier, where he hoped to find his equals. He had the idea that in Indian country, where there was danger, all white men were kings, and he wanted to be one of them. But he found, in the West as in Boston, that the men he respected were still his superiors,even if they could not read, and those he did not respect weren’t worth talking to.
2. Why does he decide to become a horse?
According to the young man, what did he learn while being a “horse?”
* While he was healing, he considered coldly the advantages of being a horse. A man would be humiliated, and sooner or later he would strike back and that would be the end of him. But a horse had onlyto be docile. Very well, he would learn to do without pride.
* The captive was a horse all summer, a docile bearer of burdens, careful and patient. He kept reminding himself that he had to be better-natured than other horses, because he could not lash out with hoofs or teeth. Helping the old woman load up the horses for travel, he yanked at a pack and said, “Whoa, brother. It goes easier whenyou don’t fight.”

3. How does Horse at the end become equal of any man on earth?

4. What does it mean that Horse “did not find it necessary to either apologize or boast when he returned home?
Bonus questions: # bonus points if you answer 3 or more questions
5. Why did he believe he would be among equals in the far West?
* In the year 1845, he left home and went out west, far beyondthe country’s creeping frontier, where he hoped to find his equals. He had the idea that in Indian country, where there was danger, all white men were kings, and he wanted to be one of them. But he found, in the West as in Boston, that the men he respected were still his superiors, even if they could not read, and those he did not respect weren’t worth talking to.
6. What was the real problemthat this man had?
7. Why was he still alone and unhappy in the West even though he had hired men he respected to work for him? What does he find out?
* He did have money, however, and he could hire the men he respected. He hired four of them, to cook and hunt and guide and be his companions, but he found them not friendly.

They were apart from him and he was still alone. He stillbrooded about his status in the world, longing for his equals.
On a day in June, he learned what it was to have no status at all. He became a captive of a small raiding party of Crow Indians.
8. How does he become a man with no status at all?
* On a day in June, he learned what it was to have no status at all. He became a captive of a small raiding party of Crow Indians.
9. Why does he stillfelt unequal among the horses?
* The horse gave him a big-eyed stare as if it understood his language—a comforting thought, because nobody else did. But even among the horses he felt unequal. They were able to look out for themselves if they escaped. He would simply starve. He was envious still, even among the horses.
10. How does understanding the language change the man’s life?
* But onthat important day in early fall the two young women set out for the river, and one of them called over her shoulder to the old woman. The white man was startled. She had said she was going to bathe. His understanding was so sudden that he felt as if his ears had come unstopped. Listening to the racket of the camp, he heard fragments of meaning instead of gabble. The people were easily amused,except when they were angry. They were amused at him, playing with the little boys. A few days later he asked the hag, with gestures, for a bow that her son had just discarded, a man-sized bow of horn. He scavenged for old arrows. The old woman cackled at his marksmanship and called her neighbors to enjoy the fun.

When he could understand words, he could identify his people by their names. The...