Previous
Chapter 13
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Black Beauty, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Horse Care, Abuse, and Neglect
Class, Transportation, and Victorian England
Good, Evil, and Power
Dignity and Religion
Summary
Analysis
One early December morning, Squire Gordon comes into the barn looking concerned. He asks John if he has any complaints about James, and if James is good and respectful. John says James is exceptional. Squire Gordon asks if he thinks James stops to visit people and leaves the horses unattended when he exercises the horses. Angrily, John says he’d never believe it—nobody is kinder, smarter, or more honest than James. At this, Squire Gordon smiles and James enters the barn. Squire Gordon explains that he fabricated accusations against James’s character to get the most truthful information out of John.
As far as John is concerned, someone must be slandering James if what Squire Gordon implies (that other people have complaints about James) is true. And that means that John must do everything in his power to defend his employee’s reputation. This highlights both how good of a horseperson James is (if John is so ready to defend him), and how honest and loyal John is to those who work under him.
Themes
Squire Gordon says his brother-in-law has asked for help in finding a new groom to work alongside and eventually replace his elderly coachman. He says he doesn’t want to let James go, but it’d be good for James. James says he’s only 19, but John says that James is already as steady and careful as a man in his 20s—he’d treat the horses well. James agrees to think about it and makes his decision to leave in about six weeks. To help him prepare and gain experience, John has James drive Squire Gordon everywhere, even just on short errands. On Saturdays James drives Black Beauty and Ginger into the city, which requires careful handling—the streets are busy and noisy.
Squire Gordon frames presenting this job to James as a sacrifice on his part, since James is such a wonderful employee at Birtwick. But encouraging James to take the job and then throwing himself into training James for six weeks shows how much Squire Gordon cares about his employees. They’re not just the cogs that keep his own estate moving. He understands that they’re people, with lives and dreams of their own—and it’s his responsibility, as someone with more power, to help them reach their full potential.
Themes
