Black Beauty
Written by Anna Sewell
I liked this book.
It talks about how dreadfully horses and other
animals were treated in the 1800s from the
view of a well-bred horse who lived in a great
place and got nicely treated, but got sold and
then very badly treated in the remainder of
his life.
Plot line
Beginning
Black
Beauty is
born,
taught not
to bite or
kick, and
is broken
in. He also
watches
Rob Roy,
his
brother,
get killed
in a
hunting
accident.
Rising Action
Beauty is sent to live at Birtwick. There he meets Ginger and Merrylegs
and they become friends. Beauty also meets two grooms, John Manly,
and James Howard. Beauty saves his master and John’s life one night,
for they would’ve been swept away by a river. James is offered a job at
another place, but before he leaves, he rescues Black Beauty and Ginger
from a burning building. Joe Green replaces James Howard. After Beauty
gallops 16 miles straight to save his mistress’s life, Joe nearly kills
Beauty by giving him cold water and not putting a cloth on. Beauty leaves
Birtwick after the three happiest years of his life, for the mistress was ill
and had to move somewhere warm. Black Beauty was sold to the Earl of
W- at Earshall, where he once again galloped to save a lady’s life. After
this, the coachman, Reuben Smith, got drunk, broke Beauty’s knees, and
died. He then became a job-horse. After a bad accident, he was sold to
another man whose doctor had advised him to get a horse. After two
struggles with coachmen, He was sold again and sent to a horse-fair. He
was then bought by Jerry Barker, a cab driver in London.
Plot line (continued)
Rising Action
Climax
Conclusion
In London, Jerry treated Black Beauty kindly He was treated
and never overworked him. However, one
terribly at this cab
day Beauty ran into Ginger, who was also a owners stables and
cab horse. Her last words to Beauty were
could never rest.
‘”You were the only friend I ever had.”’ (Black One man had
Beauty page 156) A little while after that a
brought too much
dead cab horse came by. It looked exactly
luggage and Black
like Ginger. Later he saw a pony that looked a Beauty couldn’t
lot like Merrylegs being whipped. After the
take it any longer.
winter had passed, however, Jerry had been Beauty collapsed.
given a way out of the hard life that the cab After he collapsed,
drivers must live, so he took it and sold Black Black Beauty was
Beauty to a corn dealer and a baker. At his
sent to another
new home, Beauty had hard loads uphill in a horse fair. He was
bearing rein. He almost went blind, too. He
bought by Farmer
did recover and was sold to a large cab
Thoroughgood.
owner.
At his farm, Beauty
recovered from many
years of hardships.
One summer day, he
was brought to the
Bloomefields’ and
was bought. Joe
Green was his
coachman. Black
Beauty had finally
reached his last
home.
Protagonist
Always does what he is
told.
A fantastic friend
Never stops trying his
best to please his
master
Kind
Black Beauty
Always tries to hold his
head up high
Never bites nor kicks
Highly-bred
Trust worthy
Antagonist
Never seem to think
about horse’s pain
Cruel humans
Expect the horse to do
whatever he needs,
and fast
Do anything that they
thinlk looks good
Theme
Jerry always
tried to be a
good cab driver
even though he
didn’t really like
it and went to
live in a really
nice place.
Beauty tried hard to please his masters
and ended up in a great home.
People who obey laws
don’t go to jail.
People who
try hard
usually
succeed.
Good
things
happen to
those who
deserve it
People
who don’t
obey laws
go to jail.
People who don’t try don’t
succeed.
The cab
owner didn’t
care about his
horses, and
lost two of his
best.