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Summary
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in War Horse, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Dignity and Humanity
Hope and Loss
Love and Loyalty
The Horrors of War
Summary
Analysis
In the local village hall, a painting of a beautiful horse stands below a clock frozen at 10:01. Most of the people who notice it pay little attention, thinking of it as just another old picture. But if a person pays attention, they’ll notice that the horse has a name, “Joey,” and that the painting was done by a Captain Nicholls. A few very old people in the village still remember Joey’s story, which will be told in the book.
The painting made by Captain Nicholls shows Joey in the best possible light, even if few people pay attention to it anymore. The devotion of the painter to his subject suggests the importance of love and loyalty in creating the bonds that make life worth living. In addition, the stopped clock suggests the timelessness of the lessons this book teaches, even though it has a specific historical setting.
Themes
