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Chapter 48
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 summer day, the groom cleans Black Beauty and tacks him up with more care and attention than usual. Willie seems anxious and excited as he and Mr. Thoroughgood get in the cart and drive Black Beauty to a low house a mile out of the village. Mr. Thoroughgood goes inside for a minute and returns with three ladies. The younger lady, Miss Ellen, likes Black Beauty, but the taller, ill-looking lady says she’s always nervous driving a horse who’s fallen before. Mr. Thoroughgood says that many horses fall because their drivers are careless; that’s what happened to Black Beauty. He offers to let the ladies take him on trial. Miss Blomefield agrees.
Readers know Black Beauty is reliable and isn’t going to fall because he’s weak or wants to. But his knees—a record of having fallen before—continue to make it hard for him to win people over. And though Mr. Thoroughgood doesn’t know how Black Beauty’s knees were damaged, he’s right that they scarred because of a careless man who caused a terrible accident. This suggests that Black Beauty isn’t the only horse who suffers like this: Mr. Thoroughgood seems to have seen this sort of thing before.
Themes
The next morning, a young man comes to fetch Black Beauty. The man looks pleased—until he sees Black Beauty’s “blemished” knees. Mr. Thoroughgood says Black Beauty is a good and safe horse, and this is just a trial after all. The man leads Black Beauty to his new home. The following morning, the groom returns to brush Black Beauty and remarks that the star on this horse’s face is just like Black Beauty’s. The man finds the scar on Black Beauty’s neck where he was bled when he was ill—and then finds a tiny white spot in the middle of Black Beauty’s back, which John Manly called “Beauty’s threepenny bit.” Thrilled, the man—Joe Green—asks Black Beauty if he remembers him.
Initially, Joe does as the sick lady did and judges Black Beauty based on his appearance—blemished knees, this shows, are a big deal and can be a huge mark against a horse. But Joe learns he was wrong to judge when he discovers that the horse is Black Beauty. Discovering Black Beauty in this state, where he’s clearly been neglected in the past, impresses upon Joe how little control horses have over what happens to them. Black Beauty’s good breeding, and having started life at Squire Gordon’s, wasn’t enough to save him from abuse and suffering.
Themes
Black Beauty doesn’t remember Joe Green; Joe is a man now with a beard. But Joe clearly remembers Black Beauty, so Black Beauty puts his nose up to Joe’s face. Joe grouses that he wants to know who destroyed Black Beauty’s knees, and who has abused him. In the afternoon, Joe puts Black Beauty in a low Park chair (a low carriage) and takes him to the ladies’ door. Miss Ellen drives Black Beauty with Joe riding along, and she’s a good driver. On the drive, Joe tells her about Black Beauty’s history. When they return from the drive, Miss Ellen says she’ll write to Mrs. Gordon and tell her that they’ve found Black Beauty. It takes another week before Miss Lavinia is confident enough to drive Black Beauty, and after he proves himself safe, the ladies decide for sure to keep him.
Now that Joe recognizes Black Beauty, he stops judging the horse for his scars—and starts judging whoever caused Black Beauty to scar in the first place. This again shows how powerless animals are to advocate for themselves, as it’s only luck that Black Beauty and Joe find each other and that Joe then stops doubting Black Beauty. The note that Miss Ellen is a good driver suggests that she’s also a good person—the novel generally connects considerate driving with kind and considerate people. Once the ladies decide to trust and keep Black Beauty, his future seems secure at last.
Themes
Black Beauty has been with the ladies a year now, and he goes by Black Beauty again. Joe is a wonderful, kind groom, and the easy work and good care has revived Black Beauty’s spirits. Mr. Thoroughgood recently told Joe that with such good care, Black Beauty will last until he’s 20. Willie still visits, and the ladies have promised to never sell Black Beauty. With this, Black Beauty is ready to end his story. He’s home and happy now—sometimes, just when he wakes up, he feels like he’s still in the apple orchard at Birtwick with his friends.
Though Black Beauty doesn’t go into specifics, he and Mr. Thoroughgood imply that Joe has become an exceptional horseperson in the years since he and Black Beauty parted. Now, he knows exactly how to care for a horse and preserve a horse’s health into old age—which shows that anyone can, like Joe, transform from being ignorant into being competent and knowledgeable. Black Beauty is poised to live the rest of his life happy, with dignity, doing work that he loves for people he respects.
Themes
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