The Last American Man Chapter 7

• Blog – Why does Eustace want to ride his horse across the country? What is one significant thing that happens to him on the trip?

In this chapter the reader discovers Eustace’s love for horses. Eustace would use his newly purchased horse named Bonnie to do farming and hauling. Eustace was “fascinated with the idea of taking a horse on the road for some serious distance travel.” (Pg. 153) However, in order to do this Eustace needed a better horse. Once, he bought his new horse he went riding from the mountains to the North Carolina coast.
Having had traveled all over America by foot, the idea of taking a horse across the country intrigued him. It intrigued him because it would allow him to see a different way of traveling. Eustace wanted to push himself, his brother, and his horses to their limit. He did not want to take a slow steady pace; this trip would be all about speed. A significant thing that happens while on the trip was when Eustace wanted to go one why but Judson and Susan wanted to go the other way. Eustace said that it would be burdensome to the horses and when they met up again he saw that he was right. Another to event that took place while on his coast-to-coast adventure was him fighting a mule. The owner from which Eustace bought the mule from told him of the mule’s intent to kill people if they ever touched its ears, belly, feet, or for no reason, but Eustace would have none of that. He fought that mule until it finally saw him as the one who would make the decisions.