A worn saddle hangs over a wooden fence rail with a horseshoe beside it on dusty brown ground.

Original artwork, not a still

Mammy

He went out and shot that poor pony, and, for a minute, I thought he was gonna shoot himself.

— Gone with the Wind ‧ 1939

Behind the line

What it means

Our interpretation.

The speaker reports a man shooting a pony, then recalls briefly fearing he would shoot himself. The movement from an observed act to an imagined next step creates the alarm. The words distinguish what happened from what the speaker feared might follow.

Context reviewed

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