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Themes in "Ponies" - Coggle Diagram

- - - - Barbara is a submissive character who obediently carries out Topgirl’s orders. Despite not wanting to harm her friend, Sunny, Barbara stands up and picks up the knife once more when TopGirl insists she cuts out Sunny’s voice (Johnson 3).
        
        The victim archetype: Barbara is a character who falls victim to the demands of the society she lives in. At the end of the story, after everything she sacrificed, FirstGirl and TheOtherGirls do not accept her into the group saying "'You're not OneOfUs ... You don't have a pony'" (Johnson 4). This indicates that her cutting of Sunny was rendered meaningless, and that she was either tricked or taken advantage of.
    - - Barbara is a conformist who obeys and submits to higher ranks of power. This is clearly shown when Barbara submissively took TopGirl's knife and decided to cut Sunny's horn and wings! (Johnson, 2) Moreover, despite Barbara being aware of the consequences of such acts of behavior, she did not have the will to rebel or stay confident, proving that she has a very weak mentality. "But even as she cries until her face is caked with snot and tears, she knows she still has to [continue]." (Johnson, 3) At the end of the day, though, Barbara was initially conveyed as a sweet, joyful character alongside her pony, Sunny. She did not want to be an evil, menacing character who exerted power over others, but a small girl who wanted to make friends with people who are similar to her! In conclusion, through the observations of Barbara's personality in the story, we can conclude that characters alter and develop through a various number of events and that one adjective can't possibly describe the whole picture.
  - - - The jealous and insecure nature of TopGirl can immediately be sensed during her first greeting with Barbara; she rudely comments "That's your pony? ... She's not as nice as mine" (Johnson 2). This demonstrates her insecurity by constantly comparing others to herself and by insisting her superiority.
    - - TopGirl is a very powerful character; she exerts power over others and never submits to power. Readers become aware of TopGirl's powerful tendencies when TopGirl makes Barbara cut off the wings and the horn of her pony, Sunny, by handing her the long blade (Johnson 2). TopGirl also exerts power when she says, "'You're not done yet,' TopGirl says. 'Now the voice. You have to take away her voice'" (Johnson 3). In this part of the story, after Barbara is done with the cutting-out, TopGirl also makes her remove the pony's voices to be OneOfUs. Starblossom also tells us that, not only does TopGirl exert power over Barbara and other people, Starblossom also had her voice removed, and all the other ponies too. At the end, after Starblossom had every other pony mercilessly murderer Sunny for having her voice, TopGirl also shows leadership when leading TheOtherGirls inside the house. This finally shows the reader that TopGirl exerts power over other individuals and other ponies, and can ultimately control exactly what the girls do and what the ponies ultimately are.