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| Black Beauty Photo By: ktylerconk |
I read 'Black Beauty' by Anna Sewell. This book was written from a horses' point of view and also depicts the relationship between animals and humans. In the book, Black Beauty meets two other horses named Ginger and Merry-legs. Ginger was mad at Beauty for taking her prized stable, however, Merry-Legs warmed up to Beauty quickly. This interaction between animals showed the struggle Beauty had with his own kind. After a while Beauty was sold again and again due to issues outside of his control. During his time with with different owners Black Beauty experienced the ramifications of relationships with humans.
At one point in the book a man named Rueben Smith drank too much and took Beauty out to ride, the results where fatal, Reuben had fallen off and died. Beauty ended up with ruined knees, a split hoof and a missing shoe. After this horrible event Black Beauty was taken care of by a nice young man called Joe Green whom he knew from his past. As soon as Beauty was healthy again things started going uphill.
One of the strongest themes in this book is how good and bad behaviors effect the people and animals around us. When Anna Sewell died, her mother respected her daughters wishes by requesting that the horses pulling Anna's hearse did not wear bearing reins due the strenuous load it inflicts on the necks of the horses. Anna wrote about this practice and how awful it must have felt in her famous book. The fact her mother honored her daughter by eliminating this brutal, customary practice shows that Anna was successful in her writing endeavor at educating her readers in how to behave towards animals.
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