Beryl's Horse example essay topic

Beryl Markham lead a remarkable life; from the warm and wild farm in Noro to the wide open skies over Nairobi, Peru, as most natives said her name of Lawe it as Arab Maina called her established grand relationships with not only many of the people she came in contact with, but she also have some special bonds with many of the animals she encountered in her life. Although many of the students complained that some of her characters were one dimensional, her chapters lacked focus or even that she didn't dig deep enough into her personal life. I personally the Beryl Markham was an eccentric in her own rite and wrote about people, places and things that influenced her life the most. Besides that you have to give her praises, for such a unique style of writing. To begin to understand that Markham's childhood was not an ordinary one. Spent most of her youth growing up on a farm in Africa by her father.

He father whom she loved dearly, was a very talented horse breeder who instilled the love of horses in Markham. When most girls Beryl's age were playing with dolls and drinking tea, Beryl was learning to speak African languages and hunting with the Murani tribe who were in a sense much like Beryl's family. Beryl's father was away doing business much during the day Beryl the Murani's were much her keeper during the day. I think that her father was the first influential person that we come across in West with the Night Beryl's mother left who left with Beryl's brother Richard to return to England was really not a part of her life.

Beryl looked up to her father, she admired his hard work and honesty and incorporated his words or wisdom in truth in her own life. She recalls the stories her father would tells her when she was younger. She says "He would tell me old legends about Mount Kenya or about the Me ngai Crater... I would ride alongside and ask endless questions (Markham 58)".

To think that even after years had passed and she wrote this book much later in her life she still could vividly remember some of the conversations she had with her family. It was her father who told Beryl not to trust the Ellington Lion, who did indeed turned out not to be as tame as everyone once thought he was. She later in life respected her father even more when a drought hit Africa and the crops were in terrible shape. Her father had signed contracts to deliver the oat at a certain price, he could have possibly broken the contracts, but didn't.

Beryl's father was too proud and honorable to renegotiate the deal; he bought oats from other companies and kept his word, although he eventually had to sell his farm and move to Peru where there was a need for horse trainers. Markham always remembered her father's words and actions. Markham was also influenced by the people of the Murani tribe especially Arab Maina and Arab Kosky. They took her in as one of their own because she was white and she was able to do things that the African girls could not do. They showed her the bravery and courageousness of the Murani tribe. They gave her the knowledge and understanding of the African land.

They taught her to think and feel as an animal would think and feel. I think that carried on into her deep understanding of her horses and her great ability to personify the animals throughout the book. On one occasion when Beryl was hunting with Arab Maina and Arab Kosky and they encountered a lion, the leader of the Murani, Arab Maina showed his valor and esteemed hunting skills by almost becoming one in thought with the lion, he says "Observe his eyes... we must show we are fearless, as he himself is fearless... we must walk straight past him and firmly and with courage and we must shame his anger by laughter and loud talk (Markham, 85-86)". It is such a spectacular thing to think of a little child being faced with such wild and amazing adventures. I believe that Beryl learned much of her bravery and ability to cross over barriers from hunting with the Murani tribe, I think if you can battle a lion you could certainly battle anything else that tried to stop you from conquering your dreams. Beryl Markham also learned a lot from her close childhood friend Kibii.

He taught her many Nand i games and talked of his become of a Murani man. Kibii and Beryl spent all of their time together. They swung on vines, hid in wild pig holes, wrestled with each other; games like these were more than play. To me some of the most descriptive chapters throughout the book are the books about her horses. She says "Horses in particular have been as much as part of my life as past birthdays (Markham, 108)". I believe that she inherited her love of horses from her father and her extreme knowledge of the animal mind and feelings from Arab Maina and Arab Kosky.

It could be quite possible that she was just blessed with a deep and gifted awareness of what animals think and feel, whatever the explanation for her unique knowledge of the horse's thoughts was definitely creative genius in the chapter of West with the Night entitled Royal Exile. In Royal Exile she basically write for the horses point of view. She tells of Camsican's prideful nature and his extreme unwillingness to allow his spirit to be broken. Beryl respected Camciscan because he was of noble blood and she tolerated him, even though several times he tried to hurt her. The second horse Markham talks about is her father's pregnant filly Coquette, Beryl describes the feeling of this horse so vividly the you actually get the feeling that you are there in the stable standing next to her. You feel as if she sympathizes so well with the horse.

I think that the most important horse to Markham is her very first horse Pegasus. This horse is so close to her heart because she had witnessed his birth and it was given to her from her father. She was very attached to it. She says "the colt was mine and no one else could ever touch him or ride him or feel him or nurse him-no one except me (Markham, 128)". This shows he tender dedication to him. I feel that Markham probably had resentment towards her mother for not staying Africa with Beryl and her father and therefore was adamant about not abandoning her horse.

Horse had always been apart of Beryl's life so it was certainly no surprise was she decided to take on training horses as a career. After her fathers business failed and her has to go to Peru he suggested that she travel to Mono to take up horse training. She left with only Pegasus, a couple of feedbags and a small amount of personal items. At that time horse training and racing was a male dominated sport, and no woman had yet earned a trainers license under English Jockey Rules, but Beryl has fearless and confident and later became the first woman is both England and Africa to earn her license. Although Markham had her training license and had year of experience in her father's stables, many of the men were unsure of her talents because she was so young and she was a woman. Beryl finally had job training a strong stallion, named Wrack she had did an exceptional job training him but his owner took him out of her care and gave him to a man to train because he didn't want to take such a risk on such a young girl.

Her friend Eric Gooch allowed Beryl to train a filly named Wise Child. She had been improperly trained by her first trainer, and suffered from weak tendons. At a certain race Wise Child had to race against Wrack. As much as she so badly wanted Wise Child to win she fears that Wrack will win because she knows that he is stronger. Even with her weak tendons Wise Child wins the race, but Beryl was considerate of Wise Child's condition and vowed not to race her again. Though Beryl's horse training was short lived I believe that horses always remained her first love, and her in-depth knowledge of the mind of the horses transferred into grand knowledge and love for flying airplanes.

When Markham began to fly she met a whole new group of people who influenced her greatly like the man who taught her to fly Tom Black, Denys Finch, and many others. Markham work hard at obtaining her pilots license and eventually became the first woman in both the United Stated and England to fly across the Atlantic Ocean. I feel that her earliest experiences and people like Bish on Singh, Arab Maina, Arab Kosky and especially her father molded her into the courageous and fearless woman that she was and still is. Markham's life has been an astonishing and unusual journey that led her to many places that woman had never been before. She crossed the barriers and boundaries of social norms. Markham's poetic words flowed throughout this book and captured out attention, leaving us wanting a more.

Markham exclaimed of many Africa's "so there are many Africa's... Africa is mystic; it is wild, it is sweltering; it is a photographer's paradise (Markham, 8)". Beryl Markham took me on a journey through her personal Africa, and just as some many people influenced her life, she has influenced mine, to become a little more courageous and little more fearless.