# XXIV explained — Roughing It

> Chapter companion for Roughing It by Mark Twain.

## What happens

The narrator buys a 'Genuine Mexican Plug' horse at auction, only to discover it is a vicious bucker that throws him repeatedly. He tries to sell, trade, give away, or even cripple the horse, but it survives every mishap and remains unmanageable. The chapter humorously details the horse's antics, the narrator's injuries, and the exorbitant cost of hay in Nevada.

## Themes in this chapter

### Humor and Exaggeration

The narrator's hyperbolic descriptions of the horse's bucking and his own injuries are central to the chapter's comedic tone.

### Get-Rich-Quick Schemes and Speculation

The narrator's impulsive purchase at auction mirrors the speculative spirit of the mining frontier.

### Frontier Myth vs. Reality

The romantic ideal of horsemanship clashes with the harsh reality of owning a dangerous, unmanageable horse.

## Character check-ins

### The Narrator

Buys the Mexican Plug, gets thrown repeatedly, and eventually gives the horse away.

### Old Curry

Warns the narrator about the horse's notorious bucking reputation.

### Lan'lord

Mentioned as the livery stable man who presents the bill for the horse's keep.

## Key lines

> I resolved to have a horse to ride. I had never seen such wild, free, magnificent horsemanship outside of a circus as these picturesquely-clad Mexicans, Californians and Mexicanized Americans displayed in Carson streets every day.

The narrator decides to buy a horse after being impressed by the skilled riders in Carson City.

_Sets up the motivation for the horse purchase._

> He can out-buck anything in America!

The auctioneer's brother claims the horse is the best bucking horse in the country.

_Key selling point that entices the narrator._

> Pen cannot describe how I was jolted up. Imagination cannot conceive how disjointed I was—how internally, externally and universally I was unsettled, mixed up and ruptured.

The narrator is thoroughly battered and bruised from the horse's bucking.

_Exaggerated description of physical harm._

> I managed to pay the livery bill, and that same day I gave the Genuine Mexican Plug to a passing Arkansas emigrant whom fortune delivered into my hand.

After paying the stable fees, the narrator gives the horse away to an emigrant from Arkansas.

_Resolution of the horse ownership saga._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/roughing_it_se/chapters/xxiv
- Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/roughing_it_se
- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/roughing_it_se/chapters