Characters-Black beauty, other horses(like Ginger), and the owners(like Jerry)
Setting-in England
Plot-Black Beauty is sold many times to many different owners
Genre-Realistic fiction
Perspective-first person
The book Black Beauty by Anna Sewell talks about a black horse named Black Beauty and his experience with the multiple owners he had in the course of his life. When Black Beauty was young, he lived with a kind and loving owner named Farmer Grey. As he grows older he is sold to many different owners that are both good and bad. With Joe Greene he almost died because he did not know how to take care of a sick horse. At the end he is sold to Squire Gordon at a fair who fed, rested, and healed him. They gave beauty a nice retirement filled with pleasure, joy, and happiness. This book took place in the Victorian Era when horses were widely used and sometimes abused.
All animals deserve our respect, care, and compassion regardless of their usefulness to humans. They are as sensitive and emotional as us. Animals rely entirely on humans and they often suffer the cruelty at the hands of selfish and inconsiderate humans. In the book, a lot of the Black Beauties owners did not respect their horses and treated them badly. The owners only thought about themselves and their own personal gains. They failed to consider the horse's needs and feelings. Many of the owners pushed the horses beyond their limits for the sake of money, entertainment, and ignoring the horses health. We should recognize how easily we could bring pain and suffering to animals through overuse, ignorance, and vanity, so we should treat them with sympathy and consideration.
This story was set in the Victorian era which was from 1871 to 1877, life during this time was different for both the rich and poor. Their social class and financial status determines how the horse is cared for and used. To the upper class a horse was used to show off and meanwhile, the poor could not afford to treat the horses well and had to instead hurt the horse to make money. When Black Beauty lived with a wealthy mistress, the lady wanted their heads held up because it looked better. Meanwhile, Ginger was being used so much that she wished for death because her poor owner owed someone some money and he wanted to get it out of Ginger. This shows that even upper classes will treat their horses badly for their own personal gain and purpose even though they had the power and resources to be kind to the horses. The lower class sometimes have a good intention but they have to be harsh due to financial reasons. During the Victorian era, humans from different classes were both harsh and kind to horses of all types for different reasons.
The outside circumstances and conditions are always changing throughout our lives, we can adapt and get through this hardship with good nature and spirit. The kindness and gentleness come from inside oneself which will not diminish but persist in the face of hardship. Black Beauty's mother told Black Beauty, “I hope you will grow up gentle and good, and never learn bad ways; do your work with a good will, lift your feet up well when you trot, and never bite or kick even in play.”Every owner that Black Beauty had, he tried his hardest to please them no matter if they were kind or harsh to himself. Black Beauty was taught by his mother when he was young to be nice to all people no matter if they were kind or harsh to him. This shaped his good nature and spirit, he maintains this attitude throughout his whole life. A kind and gentle spirit as well as a willing spirit in the work will help you endure through hardships.
The book Black Beauty by Anna Sewell is a very touching and inspiring story about a horse. It raises questions like how we should treat animals and it also teaches us timelessness and moral lessons. The story was set in the Victorian era in England, 1871 to 1877, where a horse was still widely used for transportation. No matter the different financial and social status, a horse was still usually abused and mistreated even though the rich could have given the horse a good life. In this situation, Black Beauty was still keeping his good spirit and forgiving nature towards his owners including those who mistreated him. The contrast between animals like Black Beauty and all the harsh owners, shows even more clearly that animals deserve our respect, care, and consideration.
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