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Chapter 32
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
Black Beauty has never met such a lovely family. Jerry and Polly are tidy and kind, their son Harry is very sensible, and Dolly is just like her mother. Jerry has his own cab and keeps his own two horses, Black Beauty and Captain. Captain is old now, but he’s well-bred—he once was a warhorse and led the regiment in Crimea.
Black Beauty’s narration shows that Jerry is at perhaps the upper end of the working class, since he can afford his own cab and the cost of keeping two horses. Captain, like Black Beauty, seems to have “fallen into the middle class” after a youth spent with upper-class owners, suggesting this is a common fate for horses.
Themes
The next morning, Polly and Dolly come out to offer Black Beauty apples and bread. It makes Black Beauty feel like his old self to be treated so kindly. Polly and Jerry decide on a new name for Black Beauty, and Jerry takes Captain out for a morning’s work. At midday, Jerry returns and carefully fits Black Beauty’s harness—which has no bearing rein, and only a gentle snaffle bit. They then drive to the cab stand they passed the night before. Black Beauty pulls into line with all the other cabs and horses, which are nibbling hay while their drivers chat and read papers. The men gather as soon as Jerry pulls up and suggest that Black Beauty is too good-looking—there must be something wrong with him. When the Governor inspects Black Beauty and says he’s a good horse, the other drivers accept his judgment.
Again, Black Beauty shows how far kindness goes: simply being offered a small treat makes him feel secure, safe, and loyal to his new owners. He learns how good of a horseperson Jerry is when Jerry takes so much time fitting Black Beauty’s harness. This means that Black Beauty will have the best chance to be able to do his work comfortably and well—and not using a bearing rein helps in this regard, too. On the cab stand, Black Beauty’s good breeding seems obvious to the other cabmen. As far as they’re concerned, this means Black Beauty must have an injury or ailment more serious than just having scarred knees—and it also suggests they don’t trust wealthy people to sell their horses with an honest assessment of a horse’s outlook.
Themes
Black Beauty’s first week as a cab horse is difficult. He’s not used to the bustle and noise of London, but he soon learns he can trust Jerry, and he gets used to it. Jerry treats his horses as well as he treats himself, and he seldom uses the whip. His stalls are on a slope, but Black Beauty and Captain can be in them untied, which helps. Jerry is generous with food and fresh water, and he doesn’t work on Sundays. Getting two nights and a day’s rest every week is the only thing that keeps Black Beauty going. During this time, he gets to know Captain.
Black Beauty implies that he settles into London so quickly because he learns that he can trust Jerry and trust that he’ll be cared for. While Jerry, like the livery stable, has stalls on an incline, Jerry does what Black Beauty says is the preferable thing: turn the horses loose so they can rest however is most comfortable for them. Further, Black Beauty also highlights the importance of rest, particularly when a horse is working as hard as cab horses do.
Themes
