Misty of Chincoteague

“The ponies were exhausted, and their coats were heavy with water, but they were free, free, free!”

After being held in the dark belly of the Spanish galleon, the ponies cannot believe their luck when they wade onto the shore of Assateague. This phrase helps establish Assateague as a horse’s paradise, full of grass and places to run and free from humans or predators.

“Not a human being anywhere. Only grass. And sea. And sky. And the wind.”

From the time the horses first arrived until the modern day, humans have never established a permanent settlement on Assateague. In the book, this allows the horses to become fully wild within just a few generations. The natural elements—grass, sea, sky, and wind, here emphasized through Henry’s use of short sentence fragments and the repetition of “and”—contrast with the human world but are closely aligned with the main horse characters.

“The people moved their homes and their church to nearby Chincoteague Island, for Assateague belonged to the wild things—to the wild birds that nested on it, and the wild ponies whose ancestors had lived on it since the days of the Spanish galleon.”

After several attempts to settle Assateague, humans eventually give up, largely because of the island’s geography. It has no shelter from the Atlantic ocean and regularly experiences violent storms. Chincoteague, on the other hand, is a community of people who share traditions, religion, family bonds, and friendship.

“Was the Phantom real?”

The question of what is real and what is imaginary arises several times in the book. Paul, Maureen, and Grandpa discuss whether the legend of the Spanish galleon is real; Grandpa eventually concludes that legends are deep and “bring up the heart of a story” (34). Then, before Paul and Maureen spot the Phantom, they argue about whether she is entirely made up since she has eluded capture for two years. This theme arises again at the end of the book; the Phantom disappears as quickly as she arrived, and they are left feeling like it might have all been a dream. Ultimately, what is real and what is imaginary must be discerned through experience.

“Course it’s a legend. But legends be the only stories as is true!”

This quote from Grandpa references the story of the Spanish galleon. He does not think it matters whether it is historically accurate. This quote applies to much of the book’s narrative, which has a legendary quality. Henry uses real people and places in her story but introduces fictional elements to create gray areas between the real and imagined.

“Grandma Beebe’s face was round as a holly berry, and soft little whiskers grew about her mouth like the feelers of a very young colt.”

Henry describes several human characters as having horse-like qualities, especially the members of the Beebe family, while the horses are frequently anthropomorphized. Henry uses these details to show the connection between living creatures and in particular The Relationship Between Humans and Horses.

“It never occurred to Paul and Maureen that the Phantom might escape the roundup men this year too.”

From the start, Paul and Maureen are confident that everything will work out exactly how they hope. For the most part, they are right. The Phantom seems almost to want to be caught when Paul finds her on Assateague. In this way, Henry demonstrates that childhood, like Assateague, is wild, magical, and idealized. Paul and Maureen grow from the magical thinking reflected in this excerpt to understanding the reality that the Phantom cannot be a pet and must return to Assateague.

“Day was breaking. A light golden mist came up out of the sea.”

Mist appears multiple times in the chapter where Paul discovers Misty. “Mist” alludes directly to her appearance and is echoed in a later chapter when Maureen muses that Misty herself “came up out of the sea” (83). Mist, a shimmering combination of water and air, is an image closely related to the image of a ghost and connects Misty to her mother, the Phantom.

“There it was again! A silver flash. It looked like mist with the sun caught on it.”

This is another example of mist as a motif in passages surrounding Misty. When she first appears to Paul, Misty seems to be nothing more than a trail of mist among the trees. The description contributes to the unreal, dreamlike quality of the scene.

“The good meadow and their own weariness made them peaceful prisoners.”

The majority of the Assateague ponies willingly participate in the pony roundup, although they seem sad to do so. The word choice makes it clear that while they can adapt to life on Chincoteague, most of them do not belong there; at heart, they are “prisoners.”

“Wave after wave of fear swept over Maureen. She felt as if she was drowning.”

This metaphor occurs as the Phantom and Misty are swimming across the channel. As Maureen metaphorically drowns in fear, the young colt begins to drown literally until Paul jumps in to save her. Water imagery is prevalent throughout the story, whether through the sea, storms, or metaphorical images such as this one.

“Slowly and dejectedly the wild ponies paraded through the main streets of Chincoteague. Only the Phantom’s colt seemed happy with her lot.”

Misty immediately stands out from the other wild ponies. While they walk defeatedly, she prances around exploring her new world. The passage foreshadows her greater connection to the human world.

“Misty…She came up out of the sea.”

This quote reflects the passage in Quote 9, showing Misty’s nearly mythical quality. She is so different from the other ponies that Maureen wonders if she emerged from the surf just to be theirs.

“Colts have got to grow up sometime.”

The fire chief says this as he explains why the colts are separated from their mothers. Paul and Maureen feel that the phrase can apply to them as well, as they grow up and learn about the realities of the pony business. It also foreshadows the final chapter, when Misty is old enough for her mother to leave her.

“Black Comet threw back his head and let out a high horse laugh at them, as if to say, ‘You’re wasting your time.’”

Horses show human-like emotions regularly in the book. Often, Henry translates their noises into human language to show exactly what they are feeling or thinking. The Black Comet is characterized as proud and always sure he will win.

“She seemed to doze off for seconds at a time, as if she felt a oneness with him; as if she and her foal and this shivering, wet boy were fellow creatures caught in a storm, prisoners of the elements. Prisoners together.”

Trapped by the natural elements, Paul feels an animal connection with the Phantom and Misty. They seem to feel it too, as they don’t try to escape or hurt him, and eventually all fall asleep. Because all three living creatures are part of the natural world and subject to its volatility, they can bond in the face of its dangers.

“The Phantom was tugging at a rope tied around Misty’s neck. A sold rope!”

The only major plot point that does not go Maureen and Paul’s way is when Misty is sold to someone else. The Phantom seems to know this is wrong as well, as she desperately tries to remove the rope from her neck.

“They were onlookers now, like hungry people on the outside of a restaurant window.”

Before Misty is sold, Paul and Maureen feel like stars of the Pony Penning Day show. After they believe they have lost her forever, they cannot enjoy any of the festivities. The loss of their dream makes them feel as if they’ve been cast outside the world of adults, who control the business of buying and selling the horses. After capturing the Phantom, Paul felt as if he had gained entry to the adult world, but the horses’ sale reminds both siblings that theirs was still the world of children’s dreams.

“Usually a colt learns from its mother.”

Unlike most colts, Misty seems to be teaching the Phantom more than the Phantom is teaching her. They are in an unfamiliar world, far from the wild landscape of Assateague that the Phantom knows well. Misty has largely grown up around humans, so she can show her mother how to trust them. The reversal of what’s “normal”—the passing of knowledge from parent to child—shows how, in a similar reversal, Misty is suited to the human rather wild world.

“Never was a colt more curious! A wickie was something to be investigated.”

Unlike the Phantom and the other wild horses, Misty immediately loves the human world, and her curiosity about the wickie indicates her acceptance of that world. This realization helps the Phantom understand that she can let Misty go. Misty is quickly becoming an adult with a life different from her mother’s, and the Phantom is free to escape back to her wild home.

“Phantom seemed to grow more restless as the season advanced.”

As Misty gets older, Paul and Maureen can see the Phantom wishing more and more to be back on Assateague. They reassure themselves by saying she is looking for them, but they know that she is dreaming of her family herd. That they can recognize this need in the Phantom is another indication that Paul and Maureen are maturing as well.

“As July came in and Pony Penning Day drew near, something came between Paul and Maureen.”

The only tension between the tightly bonded siblings comes just before the race, when they cannot decide who will ride the Phantom. Grandma insists they decide fairly by using a wishbone. Although Maureen is disappointed to lose, the choice seems to break the tension between them.

“She was a piece of thistle-down borne by the wind, moving through space in wild abandon.”

Henry regularly uses nature metaphors to describe the Phantom, especially when the horse is happy. This passage occurs during the race, when Paul can feel her wildness emerging as she flies along the course. The image of the thistle-down implies that the Phantom is carried along by forces outside herself, like the wind carries the down, and firmly places the pony is the realm of the untamed natural world.