How we cite our quotes: (Part.Paragraph)
Quote #1
At daybreak Billy Buck emerged from the bunkhouse and stood for a moment on the porch looking up at the sky. He was a broad, bandy-legged little man with a walrus mustache, with square hands, puffed and muscled on the palms. (1.1)
It's the first line and already we're meeting Billy Buck, manly man and general ranching aficionado. He seems like a classic cowboy of the old west. Except there's that one word that gets tossed in there: he's "little." That doesn't sound all that manly to Shmoop.
Quote #2
"Got the cows ready to go, Billy?" he asked.
"In the lower corral," Billy said. "I could just as well take them in alone."
"Sure you could. But a man needs company." (1.8-1.10)
These are strange words coming from Carl. He seems to like his alone time, and yet here he's saying men need company. What's that about?
Quote #3
Nearly all his father's presents were given with reservations which hampered their value somewhat. It was good discipline. (1.21)
It's a fine line to walk, gift giving. Carl wants to give his son something he'll like, but he also wants that gift to have value. And by value, he means a built-in life lesson. Unfortunately for Jody, this pretty much spoils all the fun.
Quote #4
"Well," he said with pride—"Well, I guess he can bite all right." The two men laughed, somewhat in relief. Carl Tiflin went out of the barn and walked up a side-hill to be by himself, for he was embarrassed. (1.38)
Apparently real men don't laugh at the silly quips of boys and their horses. In all seriousness though, isn't Carl being a bit dramatic? Going off up alone up a hill because of a little embarrassment? He could definitely afford to loosen up once in a while.
Quote #5
Before today, Jody had been a boy, dressed in overalls and a blue shirt—quieter than most, even suspected of being a little cowardly. And now he was different. Out of a thousand centuries they drew the ancient admiration that a man on a horse is spiritually as well as physically bigger than a man on foot. They knew that Jody had been miraculously lifted out of equality with them, and had been placed over them. (1.50)
A man on a horse is considered to be superior to some average shmuck just walking around on his own two feet. So Jody gets instant points, despite the fact that he had nothing to do with the fact that he owns the pony in the first place. We mean, it was a gift.
Quote #6
"I tell you you can't stay," Carl said angrily. "I don't need an old man. This isn't a big ranch. I can't afford food and doctor bills for an old man. You must have relatives and friends. Go to them. It is like begging to come to strangers." (2.67)
In Carl Tiflin's mind, a man is someone who fends for himself and his family. For Gitano to just appear out of nowhere and demand he be allowed to stay on their ranch, well, that's just unmanly behavior. And an old man should know better. Right Carl?
Quote #7
"Old things ought to be put out of their misery," Jody's father went on. "One shot, a big noise, one big pain in the head maybe, and that's all. That's better than stiffness and sore teeth." (2.103)
Nice, Carl. Doesn't he realize what lesson he's teaching his kid here? It seems to Shmoop that he's imparting the not so wise lesson that old people should be… shot. Okay, maybe we're exaggerating, but isn't that the gist?
Quote #8
He frowned quickly. "How do you know there was a letter?"
She nodded her head in the boy's direction. "Big-Britches Jody told me."
Jody was embarrassed.
His father looked down at him contemptuously. "He is getting to be a Big-Britches," Carl said. "He's minding everybody's business but his own. Got his big nose into everything." (4.25-4.28)
Just when you think Carl may have an ounce of compassion in him, he goes and says a mean thing like this. Mrs. Tiflin was merely teasing when she called Jody "Big-Britches," but Carl takes it a step further and straight up insults the kid. And all Jody did was receive a letter, for Pete's sake.
Quote #9
A race of giants had lived then, fearless men, men of a staunchness unknown in this day. Jody thought of the wide plains and of the wagons moving across like centipedes. He thought of Grandfather on a huge white horse, marshaling the people. Across his mind marched the great phantoms, and they marched off the earth and they were gone. (4.113)
Ah, the good old days. When men were men and women were… stuck on wagons while their husbands shot buffalo and fought off attack parties. But we digress. The point here is that in the olden days, when there were big projects to tackle, like moving westward across the continent, the men were manly. But those days are gone, so Jody's going to have to look for new models of masculinity.
Quote #10
"Won't you tell me any more stories?" Jody asked.
"Why, sure I'll tell them, but only when—I'm sure people want to hear them."
"I like to hear them, sir."
"Oh! Of course you do, but you're a little boy. It was a job for men, but only little boys like to hear about it." (4.141-4.144)
According to Grandfather, men don't like to hear stories about what men of the past have done—only little boys do. Maybe because boys like to imagine being men whereas men (like Carl) are actually busy living their lives. Or maybe they're worried that they just don't measure up to the manly models of the past.