Pony

Although many of the themes in Pony are timeless and do not depend on the specific time period in which the novel is set, the historical context is still deeply significant. Pony is set in the fictional town of Boneville, Ohio, between the years of 1858 and 1872. The bulk of the novel takes place in 1860, with the resolution taking place from 1860 to 1866. Many of the dominant political, social, and scientific events of the time period serve as a backdrop for Pony and inform the broader plot, characters, and themes.

In 1860, the legacy of colonialism was still very evident in the form of ongoing disputes over territory, even though the United States became an official nation and gained independence in 1776. Prior to the arrival of European colonizers in North America centuries earlier, Indigenous peoples lived for millennia in what is now called the United States. However, over time, colonizers killed or displaced many of these peoples in order to settle on the land and create a new nation. This context plays a significant role in Pony because Silas encounters large crowds of ghosts who died in battles between colonizers and Indigenous peoples. Most of these ghosts still wear their fatal wounds as visual reminders of the extreme violence that colonialism entailed. Silas argues that war is only justified when it promotes peace and that fighting people to take their territory is never justified; however, other characters do not feel the same way, and the novel’s reminders of this conflict are designed to illustrate the differences of opinion that existed on this issue at the time.

In 1860, nationwide tensions between abolitionists and proponents of enslavement were high, and the Civil War was about to break out in 1861; this context comes into play because it creates an even more violent backdrop for the plot and characters. By 1860, enslavement was already illegal in Ohio, but it was still legal in many other US states. Silas encounters one ghost, Matilda, who died in a battle between abolitionists and the proponents of enslavement that occurred before the start of the Civil War, and he encounters countless others who died during the war itself. He doesn’t specifically mention encountering any formerly enslaved ghosts, but he still encounters hordes of people who died because of the violent institution of enslavement. Thus, the presence of ghosts in the novel often symbolizes the widespread historical trauma of the early United States and the countless lives that were lost due to the violent institutions of enslavement and colonialism.

The burgeoning science of photography also figures prominently in the novel because Pa is a photographer and uses some of the same chemical printing processes to assist the counterfeiters who kidnap him. There were several types of photography in 1860, but the art form was far more expensive, time-consuming, and rare than it is today. Most people did not have the money, skill, or knowledge to own and operate photographic equipment. Some types of early photographs, such as daguerreotypes, did not have negatives, so there would only be one copy of the photograph. For this reason, such photographs became even more special because if the original was damaged or destroyed, it could never be replaced. Other types of photographs did use negatives, but the negatives were made of glass and were highly breakable, so these photographs were often lost as well. Because digital photography would not be invented until 1975, photographers in 1860 would have to wait until an image was developed on paper to see what it looked like. It was not possible to make endless attempts at capturing the same image, unless the photographer wanted to spend huge amounts of time and money. Because of the difficulty, cost, and time commitment associated with taking photographs, any photographs in 1860 were highly prized keepsakes. Furthermore, taking a good photograph was much more difficult because devices were not automated and the photographer had to be intimately familiar with chemical processes as well as mechanical devices in order to produce a viable photograph. The laborious nature of these processes explains why Pa’s portraits are so popular and why the counterfeiters believe that Pa will be able to help them print fake money.