"The Horse Dealer's Daughter"
             The short story, "The Horse Dealer's Daughter", by D. H. Lawrence, contains many gaps. I think the most significant gap in the reading was, why did Mabel try to kill herself by walking into the pond? The story begins with Mabel and her three brothers Fred Henry, Joe, and Malcom being forced to move from their home to lead new lives in separate directions. All three brothers had set destinations and were excited to go, but Mabel had nowhere to go except for sister, Lucy's house. Mabel had no intentions of going there though, so she felt lonely and unhappy. I think that since she had no one to turn to, she felt unwanted and depressed. She thought the only way to get any one to realize how miserable she was, was to kill herself.
             There were many signs in the short story that lead us to believe that she was going to commit suicide. For example she went to visit her mother's grave to clip the grass around the tomb. " She felt an immediate contact with the world of her mother"(548). Also throughout the scene of Mabel walking in the churchyard, there were many descriptive words symbolizing death, like "It was a grey wintry day, with saddened, dark green fields..."(548), and "...in the dusk of the dead afternoon"(550). These moments lead us to the important gap question, why Mabel tried to drown in the pond.
             There are three main reasons why Mabel's suicide attempt is so significant. First, Mabel was lonely and felt she never got much recognition. For instance her brothers would criticize her and put her down. Mabel would pretend it didn't bother her so she would act like she never heard them and would carry on with her work. Some examples were, "But Mabel did not take any notice of him. They had talked at her and round her for so many years, that she hardly heard them at all."(545) and "But she finished her task wi...