Black Beauty
Black Beauty is a fiction story written by Anna Sewell to inform people in the 1800s about how horses felt when they were being used for pulling carriages. When Anna was just a child, she broke her knees because of a fall. This forced her to use horses for travel, so she started researching about how cart horses felt when forced to use the check reins. I think the story influenced many people to stop abusing horses. This book is about what horses in that time period would talk about if they could use English.
One example of animal cruelty in Black Beauty is when Ginger was forced to use the check reins. He was not even given time to rest and was treated horribly. This event in his lifetime made Ginger an angry horse.
Another example is when Black Beauty was being beaten by the drunkard. This killed the drunkard and forced his family to move out of the Duke's lands. This event shows that abusing horses leads to bad things.
Black Beauty was beaten after being hired by a hasty man who wanted to go somewhere very quickly but could not get there on foot. This caused the horse much unnecessary pain because he was going as fast as he could even without being beaten.
The main theme of this story is "Animal Autobiography." This theme is about how the story si told as if the reader was a horse. It describes how humans look like from a horse's perspetive. It also informs the readers about how it felt lik for horses to have a bits in their mouths.
This book influenced many people in London to stop using check reings because it hurt the horses.
This book is very well written and uses many sensory images to describe the life of a cab horse in Sewells time. It gives examples from which we can learn how to be morraly correct and how to take care of horses. The book was originaly meant as a handbook on how to take care of horses, but nowadays it is seen as a childrens book. I belive that this book is good because it teaches children and adults alike that there are many types of men, some are kind and others are bad and that we should the cruel people and not be like them but instead be kind.
An example of a moral lesson is one in which a man name Ruben Smith had become drunk. While being in this predicament he tries to drive Black Beauty home but the horse falls and the man dies. This part of the story could be taken as a warning against getting drunk while driving.
Characters:
Black Beauty
Black Beauty was a black horse with a star on his forehead and a white leg. He was a kind horse. Black Beauty did not want to kick anyone because they would get angry at him. He wanted to carry on his mother’s legacy of being a calm horse.
The horse is well known because of his kindness and calmness when he is near his master. His master loves him, and takes good care of him.
He saves his master from certain death. One night, when the master is on a journey with Black Beauty, the horse stops. Suddenly a man runs towards them and tells the master that the bridge that he was going towards had collapsed into the river and that if he had gone any further both the horse and the man would have died.
Black Beauty, now called Black Auster by his new mistress, is forced to go as fast as he can by his drunk groom. He stumbles and the groom falls to the ground to his death. Black Auster was not punished because the groom was drunk, and the horse could not be blamed.
He gets sold by his master the Duke to a company that rents horses. Many times, Black Beauty is mistreated by his hired masters. One day, Black Beauty is hired by a hasty man who was beating him even though the horse was going at full speed.
He is bought by a robber who needed a horse. After the new master is arrested for felony, Black Beauty is sold to a fair, where he is bought for 24 shillings by a kind man and his family.
He is finally sold to some ladies who promise never to sell him again.
The First Master
The First Master is a kind-hearted farmer who usually used Black Beauty's mother as a cart horse. He loves the colt and takes good care of him. The master also knows that the horse loves oats, so gives them to him. All his horses think good things about him and simply adore him.
Ginger
Ginger is a horse that is brown, like the color of ginger. She is bitter because she was mistreated by her masters. When she was bought by the owner of Black Beauty, she softened up and allowed herself to be petted by the horse master. Many of the horses think that she is dangerous, but in fact she is becoming gentler. Ginger tells Black Beauty about her life and how hard it was. She tells the other horse of the many hardships she endured. Before she came to the country, she was a carriage horse and was beaten by her masters if she did not behave like they wanted her to behave.
Later he was bought by another master who mistreated him. Ginger wishes he was dead rather that working for someone who beats him.
Merrylegs
Merrylegs is a horse which is often used by the Master's children as a ride. Some children are too cruel, so he gets throws them off. Many of the horses think of him as a jolly horse, and he is very cheerful.
Sir Oliver
Sir Oliver is an old horse that had been mistreated. He tells all the other horses about the tragedy of his tail. This tragedy happened when he was a colt, his master had thought that cutting off the horse's tail would make him look fashionable, but the only thing it did was to remove Oliver's only was of swatting at flies.
He also knew a dog whose puppies had parts of their ears and tails cut off because of fashion. This old horse remarked that if cutting off tails and parts of ears was fashionable, then why did the men cut off their children's noses and parts of their ears for fashion.
John
John is the head stable boy, and the guardian of Black Beauty. He is thought of as a hero by all the horses because he feeds them oats and beans. He is well paid by the master because he is kind and hardworking. When people are cruel to horses, he teaches them a lesson on kindness to animals and talks to them about how to change their ways.
James
James is the stable boy that takes orders from John. He sometimes puts harnesses on Ginger and Black Beauty and attaches them onto the Master's carriage. The horses adore him as much as John because he gives them good exercise and is kind to them. James is offered a better paying job at another ranch, so he leaves and goes to this new place.
Joe
Joe is the new stable boy. He is very short for his age and does not know a lot about horses. He almost kills Black Beauty by soaking her with freezing cold water after a long gallop, and he does not give her a blanket. John teaches him a lesson on how to keep the horse warm, and Joe soon learns very well. He sees a drunk worker at a construction site beating two horses, so he tells the drunkard to stop, but he does not. Joe goes to the drunkard's boss and tells him about the incident, thus saving the two horses from death by beating. He is a kind stable boy who cares about horses more than his payment.
Captain
Captain was an old military horse who described to Black Beauty how he trusted his master with his life and would go in front of a cannon if he needed to. One day when he and his master were leading a charge, his master got shot by a cannon, thus killing him. After this event in his life, the old horse was never the same and was sold to the Baker family. Captain's story is an example of the horrors that a horse had to go through in war.
Jeremy Baker
Jeremy is a good cabman because he does not whip his horses and is kind to other people. One day he tied Black Beauty and Captain to a carriage and waited for a customer. A young man rushes to them and begs them to go as fast as they can to the train station. They go through the city, zigzagging through the crowed streets of London and finally arriving at the train station just in time. The man wants to pay Jerry extra, but he refuses and does not accept the money. When he gets back to his town and tells what he did, all the cab drivers laughed at him and told him that he would have been rich if he would have accepted the extra money. Jerry tells them that in the Bible it says that if you are rich it is hard to enter Heaven.
Jerry is very lighthearted and likes to sing along with birds. He helps people in need even if it is Sunday when he is supposed to rest and go to Church. He is a good Christian. Once a lady asked Jerry if he can take her to her sister who was sick. The man obliges and takes the lady to her sister. It was Sunday and Jerry was outside in a medow with his horses. He is asked by the lady to come and eat in the house but he refuses and continues staying outside with his horses. When he gets back home he tells his wife that the birds singing were his Sunday service and that he sang along with them.
He is a very kind master, this is noticed by many people because of the appearance of his horses. One day a man hires Jerry to take him home. When he arrives there a few dogs come out to greet him. Before going inside the man tells the cabman that his black horse was very well treated and was loved by his master because of his groomed appearence.
He is very prudent and does not lend his horses to anyone he does not trust. On voting day Polly, Jerry's wife, runs out of the house. She tells him that one of the candidates for election wanted to borrow his carridge. Jerry tells the candidate that he did not want someone who he did not vote for to use his carridge and whip his horses to take half drunk men to the election so that they would vote for him.
Jerry does not wan his horse: Captain to suffer, so he shoots him out of pity.
Plot
Exposition
Black Beauty is a horse that is living at a ranch. His mother does not want him to be violent, so she teaches him the way of peace. One day, Black Beauty is grazing when he hears some dogs barking and men shouting. When he looks upward, he sees a man and his horse falling onto the ground, and the man dies.
Rising Action
A few years later, Black Beauty's master buys a horse named Ginger, who has a sad story to tell. The story being an account of his life and how he had been misused and beaten when he was a colt and tied up to a carriage, then beaten some more. When the master had bought him, the horse hated all mankind. One day, Ginger kicks John, the boy who was taking care of the horses. Instead of beating him, John feeds Ginger some beans and oats, thus wining the horse's favor.
Black Beauty's mistress becomes ill and has to leave England. The master sell Black Beauty and Ginger to the Duke of Wessex and leaves. John tells the duke about the temperaments and how the horses were treated.
The daughter of the Duke of Wessex, who likes to ride Black Beauty, renames him and now calls him Black Auster. The lady tries out another horse named Lizzie. Since Lizzie is a nervous horse and cannot take care of ladies, she bolts the moment the Duke's daughter got on her. The horse is going so fast that the lady falls off it and is badly injured.
A few days later, Black Auster's groom takes him out for a ride. The groom being drunk forces Black Auster to go as fast as he can until he collapses. The horse, going too fast, stumbles and the groom falls to his death.
After this incident, the poor horse is sold to a company that let people rent horses. This life was horrid for Black Beauty because many of the people who hired him mistreated him. They usually like to whip him as hard as they could so that he would go faster.
Sometimes he was lucky and was hired by a lady or a kind man who would go slowly and not whip him, but this was not very often. Black Beauty had a friend there who could not go quickly. This horse was very timid. One day the horse was bought by some ladies who wanted a timid horse.
A man comes to the owners of Black Beauty and buys him from them. His groom feeds the horse oats and beans. One day the groom no longer gives Black Beauty oats but only beans. When Black Auster goes on a trip with his master, someone notices that the horse is sagging behind. When he inspects the animal, he comes to the conclusion that the horse was not well-fed. That same day, two policeman barges into the home and arrest the master for stealing.
The groom sells the horse to a nearby fair, where the animal is bought by a kind man name Jeremy Baker and his family.
The Baker family also owns another horse who was used in the army. He tells Black Beauty about life as a military horse. The poor animal described how he trusted his master with his life and would go in front of a cannon if he needed to. One day when he and his master were leading a charge, his master got shot by a cannon, thus killing him. After this event in his life, the old horse was never the same and was sold to this family. Black Beauty tells him that he had overheard men saying that war was fun, but he personally thought it was a waste of horses and men, and so it was.
One day, Jeremy (Jerry) tied Black Beauty and Captain to a carriage and waited for a customer. A young man rushes to them and begs them to go as fast as they can to the train station. They go through the city, zigzagging through the crowed streets of London and finally arriving at the train station just in time. The man wants to pay Jerry extra, but he refuses and does not accept the money. When he gets back to his town and tells what he did, all the cab drivers laughed at him and told him that he would have been rich if he would have accepted the extra money. Jerry tells them that in the Bible it says that if you are rich it is hard to enter Heaven.
A lady asks Jerry if he can take her to her sister who was sick. The man obliges and takes the lady to her sister. It was Sunday and Jerry is outside in a medow with his horses. He is asked by the lady to come and eat in the house but he refuses and continues staying outside with his horses. When he gets back home he tells his wife that the birds singing were his Sunday service and that he sang along with them.
One day a man hires Jerry to take him home. When he arrives there a few dogs come out to greet him. Black Beauty thinks that this man was a kind master and owned many animals. Before going inside he tells the cabman that the black horse was very well treated and was loved by his master because of his groomed appearence.
On voting day Polly, Jerry's wife, runs out of the house. She tells him that one of the candidates for election wanted to borrow his carridge. Jerry tells the candidate that he did not want someone who he did not vote for to use his carridge and whip his horses to take half drunk men to the election so that they would vote for him.
Taking Jerry to the election, Black Beauty sees his old friend Ginger. Ginger tells him about how his life had gotten bad. The poor orange horse tells his friend that he wished he were dead rather than working and being mistreated. That same day Black Beauty sees a dead horse that looked like Ginger being carted off. Black Beauty hopes his friend's wishes happend and that he would no longer suffer.
Captain is shot by his master because he was too old to work and was in great pain and a new horse is Black Beauty's partner. This horse had been sold to Jerry after it was involved in an accident that killed the driver. This horse soon becomes friends with his new master.
On Christmas Jerry comes back from a day of cab work with a fever. When his doctor comes, to see him, he tells him that he would get better but that he would have t0 stop being a cabdriver. Jerry agrees and sells his horses, then he moves to the country close one of his relatives.
The new master is a cab owner that hires many people. He is a very bad person and mistreats all of his employees.
Climax
One day Black Beauty is hired by a buisnessman who wants to get somewhere. That day the black horse was starved by his new master and so he is very weak. When the man and his family get into the cart with all their luggage Black Beauty starts his hard journey. On the way up a hill, the horse falls and almost dies. When he wakes up he sees that he is back in his barn and that a hearty meal was awaiting. He overhears his master saying that the horse was going to be sold the next day, and Black Beauty was joyful.
Falling Action
One day at auction a farmer and his grandson see Black Beauty. They decide to buy him and put him in a field with other horses. There the black horse is taken care of by the grandson and is fed oats. After a few months of good treatment the horse is sold to a lady.
Ending
This lady's groom is a boy named Joe Green, one of Black Beauty's old grooms. The lady says that she will never sell Black Beauty and will take care of him for the rest of his life. This event in his life concluds Black Beauty's story.
