60 pages • 2 hours read
Pam Muñoz RyanRiding Freedom
Fiction | Novel | Middle Grade | Published in 1998A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more. For select classroom titles, we also provide Teaching Guides with discussion and quiz questions to prompt student engagement.
Symbols & Motifs
Charlotte’s Leather Bracelet
When Charlotte’s parents die, she is found grasping the leather reins of the horses that were driving the wagon. The doctor who finds her cuts the reins and says “she might as well have something to hold on to […] she hasn’t got much else. There’s no other family to speak of” (4). She wears the leather rein as a bracelet for the rest of her life: “For as long as anyone could remember, she wore a strip of leather rein tied around her wrist” (5). The bracelet is a connection to her past that also symbolizes her connection to horses. Gripping the horses’ reins symbolizes her desire for control, to learn to lead the same animals that led to the deaths of her parents. That tragedy permanently linked Charlotte with horses and driving, just as the bracelet is a permanent fixture on her wrist. The bracelet comes to hold further significance when Charlotte splits it in half and shares it with Hay. In doing so, she makes him part of her family, and their bond is unbreakable.
Names
Names express meaning in the novel. First, Vern introduces Charlotte to the importance of naming horses. He teaches her that a “name ought to stand for something. And that a horse should have a fine name fit for a fine animal” (7). Vern chooses names like Charity and Hope to represent the hope and support he had when he escaped slavery. The name Freedom honors the story of Vern’s search for his own freedom. Charlotte’s relationship with Hayward, or Hay, is represented in his name: it is in the straw (or hay) that they first dream of owning their own ranch. After they are separated it is hay that brings Charlotte the most comfort. Her preference for sleeping in haylofts to feel secure and warm is linked to her uplifting friendship with Hay. Finally, the evolution of Charlotte’s own name tells a story of her transformation from Charlotte to Charley to One-eyed Charley and finally to the land-owning Mr. Charles Parkhurst. Charlotte’s personality remains consistent, but simple name changes give her the power to adopt a different identity with a unique social standing.
Charlotte’s Disguise
Charlotte relies on a physical disguise to maintain her identity as Charley. She “dressed carefully, wearing snug undershirts that kept her figure boy-like” (68). She alters her appearance to escape the orphanage and secure a safer position in society. As a young white boy, she can travel and work more safely than as a young girl. Her effective use of disguise provides a critical commentary on gender: Charlotte’s disguise as a boy and then a man leads people accept her talent where they would deny her rights as a woman. Charlotte is portrayed at her most vulnerable and afraid when a doctor sees through her disguise: “I know a girl when I see one” (94). Charlotte is terrified that this doctor will reveal she is really a woman because that revelation could end her career. This scene illuminates both the importance and fragility of her disguise. However, the novel shows that boys and girls are equally vulnerable in a physical sense. It doesn’t matter if Charlotte is a girl or boy—a horse kick to the head could blind anyone and ruin their career.
Related Titles
By Pam Muñoz Ryan
