JOURNAL ENTRY: I CAN JUMP PUDDLES

The story I can jump puddles was written by an Australian writer Alan Marshal in the year 1955. The story I Can Jump Puddles is among the first autobiographical story among the three other parts written by him. The other autobiographical stories written by him are: This is the Grass and In My own Heart.

In this story Alan Marshall, who himself is the protagonist of the story, clearly depicts his childhood and his sheer determination by which he managed to learn to ride a horse even after he was suffering from polio.

“I listened to him in silence. I did not believe in what he said was true.”

These were the thoughts that came in Alan’s mind when  his father told him that as he will be unable to balance with his legs while riding the horse therefore it is not possible that he will be able to rid like him. These thoughts that comes in Alan’s might have been a stepping stone for him to overcome the impossible i.e. being able to ride the horse in spite of suffering from polio.

In the story one sees how Alan becomes fond of riding the Arab pony, Stralight, which belonged to one of the boy in the school named Bob Carlton. In the story he describes how he gradually learnt to ride starlight and adjust himself comfortably on the horse so that he is able to ride him properly in spite of having problem with one of his legs. The reader learns as the story proceeds how Alan hurts himself in the course of learning how to balance himself comfortably on the saddle of the horse and gradually learn how to ride the horse.

One can notice his excitement and satisfaction when he finally goes up to his father riding the horse and tells him:

“Come and see me. You watch. Remember when you said I would never ride? Now, you watch. Yahoo!”

Through these lines one can get a feeling of his excitement and joy filled with pride of being able to ride the horse efficiently in spite of suffering from polio.

The story is deliberately a story based on real life experience, it an autobiographical story where Alan Marshall describes his experience and strive to become a horse rider despite of having polio. He was suffering from polio since his very childhood that is when he was 5 years old. As mentioned earlier through the story his experiences were well put forward and there were no sense of pity while the story was wrote down. Being a patient suffering from polio he makes the incidents look real to the readers.

In the story one gets to see a sheer determination of a person. The story gives a message of hope and positivity that should one of the guiding motives in one’s life. Alan’s strong character is portrayed in the story where in order to learn horse riding he hides the incident where he gets injured even from his parents so that they do not get worried and hence stop him from riding the horse.

In the literary circle discussion various interesting points came up as to why Alan was so much determined to ride the horse.  One of the reason might be due to the fact that Alan’s father is a good horse rider so he also wanted to prove to his father that he as well cam be a successful horse rider. Other reason might be because he used to see all his friends coming to the school riding the horse and also wanted to do the same.  And moreover he wanted to ride Satrlight because he was best among the other ponies that the students rode to school. moreover the major significant reason behind this may be because Alan, as he was suffering from polio the horse could take him easily to the places where he would not be able to venture otherwise with the help of the his legs.

The story gives a snapshot of the life style in Australia during the 1950's and one gets to know how important was horse riding an activity among the people in Australia. As a reader one gets introduced to new terminologies like- cantering, trotting etc. which are related to horse riding.

Then finally in the group it was discussed the significance of the title of the story, i.e. “I can jump puddles.”  Puddles here can be used as a metaphor for hurdles in Alan’s life that is his impossibility to walk, and how he finally happens to overcome those hurdles, i.e. “jump the puddles”with the help of Starlight.

A literary discussion in fact helped me to get a better understanding of the story from different aspects. Through the discussion meanings were derived for many portions of the story that were otherwise, unexplored or not properly understood while reading the story. The discussions did provide a lot of clarity towards understanding the story and think over certain incidents and happenings from a different angle.