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The Red Pony is divided into four stories. Each story centers on a boy named Jody; the four together show him in a critical time of his childhood. In the first story, Jody is ten years old. The stories are close together in chronological time; indeed, Steinbeck is careful to remind readers that Jody is a "little boy" at the start of each story. The Gift This story describes Carl Tiflin's family and ranch, which …

…breakfast, Jody sits with his grandfather on the porch. Eventually, the grandfather begins talking about how he really feels, about how he wonders if it was really worth it to cross the plains. He says that what was important was not crossing the plains, but the act of leading people across it. Jody says that someday he will be a leader of the people, but his grandfather replies that the days of exploration are over.