The Protagonist Suffers in “Horses of the Night” – English Essay
In the short story “Horses of the Night” by Margaret Laurence, The protagonist Chris suffers of depression. Laurence knows how depression disrupts the lives of
millions of people and also reduces work productivity. In this short story Chris is able to cope with his depression by doing certain things like pretending he is rich and owns a ranch. A technique Laurence uses to help the reader understand depression is the foreshadowing which occurs many times threw out the story.
Chris is able to cope with his depression and have people believe that he is not suffering from depression because he is always happy and “He always used to seem so—hopeful. Even when there was really nothing to be hopeful about. That’s what I find so strange. He seemed hopeful, didn’t you think?” This indicates that Chris learned how to cope and cover up so well that even Vanessa didn’t know he was that depressed. In 23ff it shows that Vanessa never would have guessed that Chris would ever be depressed “I could not associate the word with Chris”. This shows how strong her disbelief of the fact that Chris could be suffering from depression.
Every year over 17 million American adults experience clinical depression. Almost everyone has been depressed or has known someone who suffers depression. I have a friend that suffers from depression. You have to watch what you say around him because it’s hard to know what he’s thinking if he’s happy or if he’s having a rough day. It can be really hard on his family and the people around him that care about him. Depression affects many people. I believe that if you feel that you or someone you know is suffering from depression it’s important to seek help right away before the feelings of hopelessness over power the desire to survive.