How does the title of the poem (“Nietzsche’s Horse”) play into the meaning of the poem? Does this change what you initially thought of the poem? What is the speaker of the poem trying to do and why?
As a teenanger, do you agree with what he is trying to do? Would you do the same to your own kids in the future?
32 responses so far ↓
1
Yazrian
// Dec 13, 2006 at 5:04 pm
I don’t really understand who Nietzsche is or who he was even though I read the artile but I think the poet was saying that his son probaly knew as little as he did but he looked at it a different way. I still think this poem is very confusing, well not confusing but very complex but I also think the more you read it the more you understand it. I think Micheal Salinger is trying to tell his son what he knows but then he realizes he doesnt know very much and what he does know is useless. In the future I probaly won’t force what I know on my children but I would tell them the most necessary things and let them figure the rest out on their own.
2
David
// Dec 13, 2006 at 7:27 pm
I think that he should have told him the answer to his question because maybe if he had told his son, the man would find enough confidence in himself. Now this may make him think that he does no something, what is important to him.
3
Malcolm
// Dec 13, 2006 at 7:47 pm
I think the speaker is trying to say that when when you are young you should gain as much nolage as you can and know how to put it in words you will understand and possibly, when you become an adult, you can use that to explain it to some one you younger than you so they might understand.
4
Aliyah
// Dec 14, 2006 at 4:34 pm
I dont really know what Nietzche’s Horse mean or how it plays into the movie but I think he is trying to get across is that all children want to know everything but they dont need to know at that time but they will understand later on in life. I think I agree with him that children should want to know things because thats just how we are but i think that I would do the same because i would want my children to learn what they need to when they need to. They should stay a child for as long as the possible can.
5
Nate
// Dec 14, 2006 at 4:36 pm
The title of the poem plays into the meaning of the poem because he was a philosopher who did not always know the answer and his views were like Nazis views on how the government should me run and his views made it so the name did changed my view of the poem. He is trying to tell you that sometimes you don’t know the answer and you if you know it sometimes you should hide that you know it
6
Romel
// Dec 14, 2006 at 4:46 pm
i think of this poem no differently than i thought of it the first time i read it i still think that he is telling everyone about his son and how he wants to know everything but his father cant tell him everything because he only knows some much even though he says he knows “nothing”. but what i dont get is him being albe to tell his son about baseball and newtons third law and things like that even though he doesnt know anything? and yah i would do this to my son in the future because i would want him to figue out things on his/her own because when you do you understand the subject or problem better becuase you would know how and why it happend
7
Chris
// Dec 14, 2006 at 5:36 pm
I think that the author chose the title “Nietzsche’s Horse” because Fredrich Nietzche figured out many important things which is what the 13 year old wanted. Im not sure why he said horse but it could be because he would like to know many things like Nietzche so hes related to him but he is smaller and not as important as Nietzche so he is a pet
8
Amanda
// Dec 14, 2006 at 5:49 pm
I think that the speaker was right not to tell his son because yea he has a right to know, but he’ll find out for himself when the time is right. Otherwise life would be boreing if you were just given all the answers. I would problibly do the same thing with my childeren.
9
Blair
// Dec 14, 2006 at 6:03 pm
Nietzsche was crazy. In the poem, maybe the writer in the story is not telling his son the truth because he doesn’t want him to be crazy or hurt by it. In the story it says the miracle of life is that we survive. I agree and disagree with what he’s trying to do, yes because i would want to protect my children from becoming crazy and no because i would want them to know the truth. Now that I know about the title, the title/poem relationship makes more sense.
10
William J.
// Dec 14, 2006 at 6:26 pm
A.) Well Nietzsche was a famous German philospher/musician/poet from the 1800’s who went by the name of Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche. At a young age he lost his younger brother, his grandmother, and his father. Mr. Salinger was probably relating to him (Freidrich had no father to help him along). Mr. Salinger is there and wants to be in his son’s life and guide him along while he can. The horse, being a strong and beautiful, *yet fraile animal, probably represented his son. So i would guess Michael would want to strenghten and encourage his son from not falling and keep going.
B.) It didnt as much change my opinion, hoestly i think thats what he initially was getting at.
C.) Certainly, i do agree, all he is doing is showing some interest in his son’s life and making sure that he doesn’t end up a failure.
*a horse can die from a single stomach ache
11
Aaliyah
// Dec 14, 2006 at 6:30 pm
I think the title “Nietzche’s Horse” takes apart because maybe his horse want to do sometype of trick that Nietzche did not want to do, so Nietzche jusst wanted the horse to go step by step and that is what they did. This does not shange what I think the poem means because the horse and the boy by them both wanting to do or know something play the same role , and then Nietzche and the father play the same role by knowing something but not wanting to give out that information.
12
Valerie
// Dec 14, 2006 at 6:40 pm
Having thoroughly researched Mr. Nietzsche, I cannot understand what relevance this horse he hugged has to the poem about unaswerable questions.
I suppose that perhaps, since by saving this horse, Nietzche hurt himself, perhaps the son and the horse are being saved by the father and Nietzche, respectvely, the father/Nietzche is hurting himself by saving the son/horse.
Whatever. It’s a very strange title.
13
Ian
// Dec 14, 2006 at 6:49 pm
i see no revelence to this poem to Nietzsche himself. althought he was a philosepher and may have made up this philosefy i still don’t see at all where the horse comes in. coment o this if you think im wrong.
14
Neil
// Dec 14, 2006 at 6:49 pm
The reason i think the title “Nietzche’s Horse” is put on this poem because when he was the father’s son’s (in the poem) age he learned a lot. I do not know why but I get the feeling the author is trying to trick you by flipping the facts around. This is because Nietzche learned a lot and the son in “Nietzche’s Horse” does not know anything. So it changes the way I felt about the poem initially until I discovered the meaning of the title. I understand that he wants his son to be his “little boy” forever but he has to let go at one point. He’s just like every parent but some just talk with their kids earlier because of trust and some are afraid and wait. When I’m an adult I will inform my kids about anything because I know I wasn’t a kid forever and they aren’t going to be Ether. At least I hope not!
15
Alec
// Dec 14, 2006 at 7:25 pm
THe video wasnt working for me so i dont really know much.. but i thought that he entiled his poem “Nietzsche’s Horse” being a metaphor, comparring Nietzsche’s horse to his son becuase Nietzsche was a philosephor who really understodd and percieved life amazingly, and his horse, being “like him” and looked up to him.
I dont eqactly know if it is the right thnig to kepp him asking questions, but you shuold both hide things and tell them things to a certain extent .
16
Nia
// Dec 14, 2006 at 7:54 pm
He wants the truth….HE CAN”T HANDLE THE TRUTH! But seriously, he should tell his son the truth, because he is going to find out sooner or later. Yes it might tramatize him, leave emotional scars, and cause him to go to therapy, but whatever this truth is it’s not going to be kept a secret for long. When he gets older he might need to know about…..whatever his dad is trying to keep from him. It might help him in the long run…..or just make him crazy…..I don’t know I’m not the poet.
17
Jeremy
// Dec 14, 2006 at 8:27 pm
I dont think the title plays into what the poem means. It didnt change what i thougth about the poem at all.
I think i would do the same thing to my kids beacuse they need to be thinking about something. even if its unrelevant there needs to be something going on in their heads.
on the other hand he needs to tell his son the truth beacuse he is eventually going to find out and then hes going to be upset that his dad “lied” to him.
18
Veronica!!
// Dec 14, 2006 at 8:40 pm
This Poem was at first to me what seemed like a thoughtless poem about a dude and his horse. That was my first thought…then when I read it thousands of ideas popped into my head to try to find the connection between the title and the poem itself. I think this poem is mainly pointed toward parents and kids these people are the ones talking and being talked about in this poem. This poem is trying to tell parents that they might want to tell their kids a little more and kids that they should be thankful of their parents for in some ways protecting us.
He is trying to tell us that………um well I’m really not sure but I do say this it is either warning or trying to make us grateful to our parents. I think that when I become a parent i probably would right now I would say otherwise because I am the person who would be effected by the actions of the parent. Almost all parents do what this poem is portraying that they want to keep their kids kids for just a little longer than their kids can quite stand
19
Yinka
// Dec 14, 2006 at 9:01 pm
I too like Valerie have done research om Mr. Friedrich Nietzsche but I have barely found anything about a house. The only information a found was an introduction to a book, then I realized that Nietzsches Horse was a book.
I read the intro but it only had about 2 sentences, and it only said one thing that happened. It said one day Freidrich was walking down the street and saw a horse being whipped, and beaten and that caused Freidrich to have mental problems, or something. I still don’t understan how that relates to the poem, but I have a theory that he took in the horse and his wife and him agreed differently on how to take care of it but thats just the theory and not 100% true. The the only way I the the tital would play into the poem.
20
Yinka
// Dec 14, 2006 at 9:03 pm
wow I just realized I made alot of spelling mistake on that last reply, sorry for the mistakes!
21
Andrew
// Dec 14, 2006 at 9:04 pm
I agree with Jeremy except the dad really didn’t lie to his son, he just was telling his son information instead of telling his son what the son wanted to be answered which is what the dad is trying to hide from his son.
22
Steven
// Dec 14, 2006 at 9:13 pm
I dont see how Nietzsche’s Horse has anything to do with the poem because Nietzsche is a philosaphor, and i have no idea where the horse comes in with a philosaphor.I dont really understand how the author is explaining to me what Nietzsche’s Horse means but other than that i do understand the meaning of the poem. I can understand why the teenagers parents are protecting him but a part of growing up and learning new things and i think 13 is an apropriate age to know the answers of lifes problems. If I were the parent I would most likely tell my son because I think he has a right to know.
23
P.J.
// Dec 14, 2006 at 9:31 pm
Nietzche was, a philosopher who was anti-religious and so spoke what he considered “the truth”. Looking over a list of his quotes I have come to find that he would not sugar-coat things. I find it peculiar that the author chose his name considering his views seemed drasically diffrent from the authors in the sense that he thought that the truth should be told and the author did not(or at least not to kids). As for the horse part, beyond me. As a teenager I disagree with what he is doing though I know that it is probabaly what I will end up doing with my kids, you love them the way they are and you dont want anything to change. They may be more negative or less hopeful.
24
William L.
// Dec 14, 2006 at 9:58 pm
Before I did research on the poem, I did not know that Nietzsche was actually a famous German Philosopher. While being a philosopher,you also have to enlighten people. I think that the father is trying to teach his son as many things as he can but he sometimes has the right intentions with the wrong methods. He shouldn’t lie to his son but he can’t except the truth. I do not approve of him lying because of its sinful image and because you are not supposed to lie to your children. The poem was easier to understand after I found out who Nietzsche was.
25
Philip
// Dec 14, 2006 at 10:43 pm
I think that the picking of the title made no sense because I cannot see the relation between them. After looking at Nietzsche I still really do not have a great understanding of the story. So I think that the author idolizes Nietzsche and picked that title for a reason that is unclear to me.
26
Jordan
// Dec 14, 2006 at 10:50 pm
At first, I didn’t think that Nietzsche’s horse had anything to the poem. After reading up on the subject, I have grasped a little bit of understanding from it. Nietzsche was trying to protect the horse from getting whipped, and, in the poem, the father was trying to protect his son. Also, Nietzsche was a philospher and was very knowledgeable. He had a complete mental breakdown (which occured when he wrapped his arms across the horse that was getting whipped). Perhaps the author was using this as an example of someone who went insane because of their knowledge, but that is probably not true because, according to doctors, the reason of his insanity was due to a certain disease.
I understand what he is trying to do by not telling his son all the answers. I will probably do the same thing to my children. People can’t be given all the answers to lifes questions or else they will grow up before they have to.
27
Raya
// Dec 14, 2006 at 10:54 pm
i’m not sure because people picture things one way but they never end up happening. I don’t ever think that my mom pictured answering the question i asked. So people are not predictable so she could never prepare herself for the questions that i ask.
I don’t think that i know what i would do i can’t picture my life beyond 2 days.
28
maya: REALLY IMPORTANT
// Dec 15, 2006 at 6:59 am
Well,when I read A about Nietzche and I learned that he tried to protect his horse fom getting hit. So amybe this applies to teh poem because the author is trying to protect his son from bad and give him good.
29
maya=
// Dec 15, 2006 at 7:01 am
I think I would do the same as a parent, only because it is a parents instict to do so. You want to protect the person you love the most “your child”.
30
Kelsey
// Dec 15, 2006 at 7:04 am
I think that the title was what the auther wanted to be. He wanted to know something but he said he know nothing. I think that he wanted to be a scholar like the title of the poem.
I agree somewhat with what he did with his son but i think that if he was 13 he should be told.
31
Breanna
// Dec 15, 2006 at 4:54 pm
I like how the title and the story come together. At first I was like WHAT!? and then I realized that Nietzche was trying to protect the horse and the father was trying to protect the son. For me, I do and don’t like this poem. I understand trying to keep your child’s innocence but you are also robbing them of their maturity, because one day they are going to have to face the real world and when they face it, it is going to be a head on collision,they should at least be a little prepared for it so i would want my child or children to be ready for when that happens.
32
Ashley
// Dec 15, 2006 at 10:35 pm
The title of the poem didn’t really hit me until I read the poem a few times, but I really understood it in class today. But anyways, the title did play a meaning into the poem because, Nietzsche was trying to protect the horse from being whipped, and the father was trying to keep the little boy for finding the truth. The story behind the horse didn’t change my point of view with the poem, but it helped a little bit. THe horse story just helped youn understand but it was more in depth. I do and do not agree with what the author is trying to do. He is saying that people/children should find out the truth just by experiencing it, but you can also guide the child/people to do the right thing before they do the wrong thing. I do agree, that people should find some things out on there own. But it should be simple things or if the person is mature enough, let them find it out on there own. I would not do the same thing to my kids in the future because I wouldn’t want them to get killed just for doing a simple thing such as touching fire, or something stupid like that. I would just tell them to not do it, and that would be the end of that.
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