Black Beauty

Fiction | Novel | Middle Grade | Published in 1877

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Summary

Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Part 1, Chapters 1-10

Part 1, Chapters 11-21

Part 2, Chapters 22-31

Part 3, Chapters 32-41

Part 3, Chapters 42-45 & Part 4, Chapters 46-49

Character Analysis

Themes

Symbols & Motifs

Important Quotes

Essay Topics

Part 3, Chapters 42-45 & Part 4, Chapters 46-49Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Part 3, Chapter 42 Summary: “The Election”

An election is drawing near, and a local candidate ask to hire Jerry’s cab for the day. According to election practices at that time, the cab would be expected to display propaganda supporting the candidate, and would be made available to take voters (many of whom would be drunk, since alcohol was provided as a voting incentive) to polling-stations. Jerry declines, objecting to the general chaos of current election practices, and also to the particular candidate.

On the morning of the election, Dolly comes home crying; she is wearing a blue dress, and some local boys interpreted this as a mark of loyalty to a specific political party and threw dirt at her. Harry defends his sister, and Jerry explains that the entire election system is corrupt as present; he advocates for secret ballot, which would allow for a more secure and less boisterous election process. As Jerry tells his son, “an election is a very serious thing; at least it ought to be” (159).

Part 3, Chapter 43 Summary: “A Friend in Need”

On the day of the election, there is a great deal of chaos in the streets. A young woman, carrying a sickly child, approaches Jerry, and asks for directions to the hospital. She explains that she is from the country, and has come to London seeking medical help for her child. Jerry is horrified to learn that she is planning to carry the child three miles to the hospital, especially because the streets are so busy that she could easily be run over. He insists on driving her to the hospital because “I know a father’s feelings” (161). Jerry also persists even when two men try to commandeer the cab because they think their business is more important than the young woman.

After taking the woman and her child to the hospital, Jerry is hired by an older woman who seems to know both him and his wife. Polly used to work for this woman before she got married, and the woman gives Jerry gifts to take home to the children. The woman also tells Jerry that driving a cab must be hard on his health, and that he should consider finding work as a driver or a groom, since he is so good with horses.

Part 3, Chapter 44 Summary: “Old Captain and his Successor”

One day, Jerry is driving the cab with Captain (Beauty is at home), when another vehicle, driven by a drunken man, crashes into them. The cab is damaged, and Captain is seriously injured; Jerry miraculously escapes unharmed. When Jerry returns with Beauty to the cab stand a few days later, he expresses his anger and frustration with the consequences of alcohol: “if there’s one devil that I should like to see in the bottomless pit more than another, it’s the drink devil” (165). The cab driver to whom Jerry is speaking agrees, but admits that he finds it almost impossible to quit drinking himself.

Jerry speaks about his own experience giving up alcohol, revealing that he has struggled with drinking in the past. However, he was determined to have a better life for himself and for Polly, and with her support, he has now been sober for more than 10 years.

Captain recovers to some extent, but will not be able to work pulling a cab any longer. Rather than sell him to work in drudgery and suffering, Jerry arranges for Captain to be shot. Beauty is not present when this occurs. A new horse, named Hotspur, comes to replace Captain. Hotspur is young and high-spirited; he became aggressive while being driven with a bearing-rein, but he settles into life well once he knows that Jerry is going to treat him patiently and kindly.

Part 3, Chapter 45 Summary: “Jerry’s New Year”

During the Christmas season, many wealthy people hire cabs to drive them to parties and entertainments, but they often selfishly keep cabs and horses waiting for hours in the cold. This work takes a toll on both Jerry and Black Beauty. On New Year’s Eve, two passengers keep Jerry waiting in the freezing cold for more than two hours. Jerry makes it home, but then falls seriously ill. Harry tends to Black Beauty, and Beauty overhears that Jerry is dangerously ill, but the doctor is hopeful, especially because Jerry doesn’t drink.

Eventually Jerry starts to recover; one of his friends takes Hotspur out regularly to exercise him. Black Beauty overhears that while Jerry is going to recover, he has to stop working as a cab driver. Polly writes to her former employer, Mrs. Fowler, and Mrs. Fowler writes back that she needs to hire a new coachman, and will be happy to hire Jerry. The family will be able to live a quieter and healthier life in the countryside, on a small cottage near her estate.

Jerry sells Hotspur to one of the other cab drivers, but since Beauty is becoming more worn down, Jerry arranges for one of his friends to find a good place for him. The rest of the family bids good-bye to Beauty before they leave London, but Jerry is still too ill, and Beauty never sees him again after the New Year’s Eve.

Part 4, Chapter 46 Summary: “Jakes and the Lady”

Black Beauty is sold to a corn dealer and baker; he is well-fed and the man who usually drives him, Jakes, treats him well, but other workers pressure Jakes to take heavier loads and work Beauty harder. Beauty does the best he can, but often struggles with the hard work. One day, Beauty is struggling to pull a cart up a steep hill and Jakes begins to beat him. A lady driving by stops, and implores Jakes not to hit Beauty. She suggests Jakes take off the bearing-rein, and when Jakes does so, Beauty is able to pull the cart.

The lady urges Jakes not to use the bearing-rein in the future; he concedes that he will try. Jakes is impressed, because the lady “spoke just as polite as if I was a gentleman” (177). Nonetheless, Black Beauty continues to be exhausted by the heavy loads that he has to pull. His eyesight also begins to be affected by the poor lighting in the stable. When the owners grow dissatisfied with Beauty, they sell him again.

Part 4, Chapter 47 Summary: “Hard Times”

Black Beauty is sold to a man who owns and rents cabs and cab horses; his name is Nicholas Skinner, and Beauty suspects he is the same man who tormented Seedy Sam. Beauty is rented out at low prices to men who use him harshly, and he is never given any time to rest. All his hopes for happiness vanish, and Beauty ponders that, “my life was now so utterly wretched, that I wished I might, like Ginger, drop down dead at my work, and be out of my misery” (180).

One day, Beauty and his cab pick up a family from a train station; they are travelling with a lot of luggage, and the young girl worries that the load will be too heavy for Beauty. However, the father and the driver insist that Beauty will be fine. As Beauty struggles to go up a steep hill with the heavy cab, he collapses due to the strain. Several people think Beauty is going to die, but a kind man tends to him, and eventually Beauty finds the strength to get up.

He is taken back to Skinner’s stable, and a doctor comes to look at him. The doctor explains that Beauty needs several months of rest before he can work again, and Skinner says that he will not keep a horse who cannot generate a profit for him. In preparation for selling Beauty, and in order to get a higher price, he gives Beauty good food and time to rest.

Part 4, Chapter 48 Summary: “Farmer Thoroughgood and his Grandson Willie”

At the horse fair, Black Beauty is one of the cheaply-priced and broken-down horses. He is, however, still somewhat handsome, and an elderly man attending the fair with his young grandson takes notice of him. The elderly man observes that “there’s a great deal of breeding about that horse” (184). The young boy eagerly asks his grandfather to buy the horse, and nurse him back to health but the older man hesitates. The man selling Beauty encourages the sale, promising that if Beauty is nursed back to health, he will be a valuable and useful horse. Eventually, the elderly man agrees to buy Beauty for a low price.

In his new home, Beauty is turned free in a pleasant meadow. He is given lots of good food, and the young boy, who is named Willie, takes good care of him. Over several months, Black Beauty becomes healthy and energetic again. By the following spring, the farmer is very pleased to have bought him, and prepares to sell Beauty to a good home where he can live quietly.

Part 4, Chapter 49 Summary: “My Last Home”

One day, a groom very carefully tends to Black Beauty, and then Farmer Thoroughgood takes him to meet some ladies who are looking to buy a horse. One of the ladies is suspicious because she is worried that Black Beauty will fall again and cause an accident; Farmer Thoroughgood assures her that Beauty’s past troubles stemmed from being badly used, and he will be a very safe horse if treated well. They agree to take him for a trial, and send their groom to fetch Beauty.

When the groom comes, he notices that the new horse resembles a horse he once knew--- known as Black Beauty. The groom reveals that he is Joe Green, now all grown up. One of the ladies takes Beauty out for a drive, and is pleased with him. The ladies, who know Squire Gordon and his wife, are all happy to learn that their new horse once belonged to him. They decide to keep Beauty, and call him by his old name again.

Beauty lives a quiet and contented life, with Joe taking good care of him. His health is restored, and Beauty reflects happily that “my work is easy and pleasant, and I feel my strength and spirits all coming back again” (189).

Part 3, Chapters 42-45 & Part 4, Chapters 46-49 Analysis

In the final section of the novel, Jerry’s character remains consistent in his focus on hard work, kindness, and care. His character is also developed when readers learn that Jerry has a history of excessive drinking, which almost ruined his life. This character development nuances the theme of the Destructiveness of Alcohol Abuse by showing that characters can reform and change, even if it is hard for them to stop drinking. Since Sewell argues that harmful practices at the social level (such as abusing horses) can be changed, she also models this idea of reform and change at the individual level by showing how Jerry recovered from alcohol addiction. Jerry’s ability to recover is linked directly to the love and care he receives: he explains that “thanks be to God, and my dear wife, my chains were broken” (166), using a metaphor of breaking chains to describe the power of being released from his addiction.

Jerry’s fate comes perilously close to the tragic deaths of Ginger and Seedy Sam; like both humans and animals, his life is imperiled by selfish individuals who think only of themselves. Because Jerry is paid to provide convenience to wealthier individuals, they treat him like a machine or object, rather than a human being. Fortunately, Jerry’s illness ends up being a catalyst for positive change for him and his family. Mrs. Fowler, Polly’s former employer, functions as another figure who uses her wealth and authority benevolently, and creates opportunities for others. The Barker family’s departure from London develops the motif of contrasting the city and the country, implying that the country is a healthier and safer place, where both humans and animals can enjoy a higher quality of life. Dolly describes how their new home will have “a garden, and a hen house, and apple trees, and everything!” (172), implying that this new setting will be healthier and more nurturing for the family.

The departure of the Barker family from London reduces Black Beauty to the worst circumstances he has encountered so far, marking a low point in the plot. Jakes is not entirely a lost cause, and his receptiveness to the reform urged by a lady shows that he has the potential to be a good man. After the lady’s intervention, Beauty notes that, “he let my rein out several holes” (177), providing a small but concrete example of how the theme of the Importance of Intervening to Prevent Cruelty plays out in the novel.

However, by this point, Beauty is being treated as increasingly disposable, and when he cannot produce profit through his labor, he is simply discarded in order to recover as much money as possible. Because his existence as a physical and living entity is denied, and he is treated like machinery, Beauty’s body starts to break down. His heroic and noble nature is shown through his commitment to doing his best until he literally drops. While Beauty’s character does not develop or change much over the course of the plot, his nature does change from hopeful and optimistic to despairing and resigned due to the suffering he endures. Beauty thinks, “my life was now so utterly wretched, that I wished I might, like Ginger, drop down dead at my work, and be out of my misery” (180). Beauty’s collapse on the road marks the lowest point of his descent, and shows how an animal that has always done its best can be pushed past its ability to endure.

Sewell chooses to give her novel a happy ending, and therefore reverses Black Beauty’s downward path. Even when he is relatively weak and feeble, Beauty’s physical appearance and pedigree are still apparent to someone who knows horses well. As a child, Willie is not concerned with superficial appearances, and rightly judges that Beauty has a sweet disposition, and a desire to work hard. In this section, children twice see Beauty’s circumstances more clearly than the adults around them: it is a child who correctly sees that Beauty’s load is too heavy on the day that he collapses, and it is a child who correctly sees that he is still valuable. Because children have not been acculturated to social norms, they are much like horses and can see situations more objectively, and often more clearly. As a result, they can challenge injustice when they encounter it. It is young Willie who correctly predicts that, “I am sure he would grow young in our meadows” (184), intuiting that Beauty needs love and care more than anything else.

The resolution of the plot effectively “turns back the clock” on the suffering that Black Beauty has endured, and symbolically returns him to the happy days of his early life. Returning to a pastoral country setting, reuniting with Joe Green, and even having his original name returned to him all imply a narrative of return or even resurrection, in which Beauty goes back to the conditions he deserved all along. Those conditions are quite modest: even in his advanced age, Beauty continues to work and take pride in completing tasks, but also welcomes the gentle treatment he receives. He notes happily that, “my work is easy and pleasant, and I feel my strength and spirits all coming back again” (189), showing that it is never too late for someone’s fate to turn around. Throughout the novel, Sewell advocates not that horses (and men) be removed from contexts of labor, but that their labor be fairly rewarded, and carried out in contexts of kindness and gentleness.