1. Unit at a glance
- This unit contains only the prose story “The Summer of the Beautiful White Horse” by William Saroyan; no poem is present.
- Central focus: two boys from the honest but poor Garoghlanian Armenian tribe who take a white horse for early-morning rides.
- Explores the tension between the family’s centuries-old reputation for honesty and the boys’ longing to ride.
- Highlights the eccentric “crazy streak” running through the tribe, shown through Mourad and Uncle Khosrove.
- Ends with the quiet return of the horse, preserving the family name without direct confession.
- Tone mixes nostalgia, gentle humour and moral dilemma.
2. Prose
Summary
Nine-year-old Aram wakes to find his cousin Mourad on a beautiful white horse. Knowing their tribe’s reputation for honesty, Aram realises Mourad must have taken the horse. They ride it secretly for two weeks. When the owner, farmer John Byro, visits and laments the loss, the boys decide to return the horse. They place it back in Byro’s barn; the farmer later finds it stronger and better-tempered.
Setting
Edge of town on Walnut Avenue, California (vineyards, orchards, irrigation ditches, deserted Fetvajian vineyard barn); early summer mornings before sunrise.
Main characters
- Aram: nine-year-old narrator, honest but desperate to ride.
- Mourad: Aram’s older cousin, considered “crazy,” has a natural way with horses and animals.
- Uncle Khosrove: enormous, hot-tempered man who dismisses every problem with “It is no harm; pay no attention to it.”
- John Byro: lonely Assyrian farmer whose white horse is taken; values the Garoghlanian reputation for honesty.
Sequence of key events
- Mourad wakes Aram at 4 a.m. with the horse.
- They ride; Mourad later rides alone and returns wet.
- Aram falls while trying to ride alone.
- They hide the horse in Fetvajian’s deserted barn.
- John Byro visits and mentions the stolen horse; Khosrove shouts him down.
- Boys meet Byro on the road; he recognises the horse but trusts their family name.
- They return the horse at dawn; dogs do not bark.
- Byro later shows the returned horse to Aram’s mother.
3. Poem
No poem is included in the provided unit text.
4. Themes and messages
The writer shows that belonging to a family or tribe famous for honesty shapes behaviour even when temptation is strong. Mourad’s final decision—“The horse must go back to its true owner”—illustrates that pride in the family name outweighs personal desire. The story also conveys that children absorb the tribe’s values through stories and daily life rather than formal teaching.
5. Literary devices
- Imagery: “the horse stood on its hind legs, snorted, and burst into a fury of speed that was the loveliest thing I had ever seen.”
- Irony: the boys steal the horse yet the family is “famous for our honesty for something like eleven centuries.”
- Simile (implied): “my cousin Mourad was considered the natural descendant of this man [Khosrove].”
- Personification: “life was still a delightful and mysterious dream.”
- Repetition for humour: Khosrove repeatedly roars “It is no harm; pay no attention to it.”
6. Vocabulary
- magnificence – grandeur, splendour
- poverty-stricken – extremely poor
- capricious – unpredictable, changeable
- vagrant – wandering, unsettled
- surrey – light carriage with four wheels
- heartily – with great appetite
- irritated – annoyed, angry
- homesick – longing for one’s native country
7. Exam pitfalls
- Claiming the boys returned the horse only because they were “conscience-stricken” (text shows Mourad acts to protect the family name).
- Forgetting that the story never states Mourad bought the horse—he simply took it.
- Mixing up the two uncles: Khosrove is the loud one; Zorab is Mourad’s practical father.
- Writing that the horse was sold (they never offer it for sale).
- Adding details about Armenia or the tribe not given in the text.