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Chapter 25
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
At about midnight, Black Beauty hears a horse coming. He realizes it’s Ginger and whinnies. She’s pulling the dog-cart with two men in it. The men stop and inspect Smith: he’s dead. One man is shocked; he didn’t think Black Beauty could do such a thing. But when the other man tries to lead Black Beauty forward, he realizes that Black Beauty’s hoof is split. They deduce that Smith was drinking; sober, he’d never try to ride a horse without a shoe over these cobblestones.
Note that the men initially blame Black Beauty for the accident, implying that Black Beauty purposefully threw Smith. But the truth is inarguable: Smith was drunk and not thinking, and his carelessness resulted in his own death and serious injury to Black Beauty. This reinforces one of the novel’s main points about horse care and neglect: Smith certainly didn’t intend to hurt Black Beauty, but his carelessness led him to do so anyway.
Themes
The men heave Smith’s body into the dog-cart and one man drives Ginger toward Earlshall. The other man, a groom, binds a handkerchief around Black Beauty’s hoof. The three-mile walk home is excruciating. At the stable, a groom bandages Black Beauty’s knees and the next day, a farrier says the joint is probably fine—but the skin will always be blemished. It takes a long time for Black Beauty’s knees to heal. He develops proud flesh (raised, unattractive scarring), which the farrier burns out with caustic. Finally, the farrier applies a blistering fluid to take the hair off. Black Beauty doesn’t know why, but he assumes they did their best.
Once again, Black Beauty, as a powerless animal, has no way to advocate for himself. He couldn’t prevent the accident, and he can’t give advice on choosing different veterinary care that might help his knees heal better. His scarred, hairless knees essentially become a symbol of his abuse: because of Smith’s carelessness, Black Beauty will forever bear these marks. He can’t escape them, though they weren’t his fault.
Themes
Since no one was there to see Smith’s death, there’s an inquest. Several people at the inn give evidence that Smith was drunk when he left. People find Black Beauty’s shoe, so soon, Black Beauty’s name is cleared. Smith’s wife is inconsolable and curses alcohol.
The inquest seems to intend to discover if perhaps Black Beauty was at fault—and had it gone the other way, it could seriously damage Black Beauty’s prospects (few prospective buyers would want a horse who killed someone). But again, Black Beauty is just lucky that the evidence is easy to find—and that it’s obvious he didn’t throw Smith on purpose.
Themes
