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Chapter 10
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 spring, the front lines shift. At first, this means fewer wounded and more time for Topthorn and Joey to spend with the doting Emilie, who rides both horses around the farm bareback, as a friend rather than as a mistress. Joey and Topthorn live amicably together, sharing Emilie’s affection and attention. Eventually, the field hospital moves too, leaving the horses behind as a gift of gratitude to Emilie and her grandfather for caring for them—at least until the German Army needs them again. Emilie assures them it never will. Soon, the Grandfather puts them to work cutting and turning and hauling in the hay.
As the front lines shift farther and farther away, the lives of everyone—Joey, Topthorn, Emilie, and her grandfather—improve, offering a further reminder of the terrible costs war imposes on everyone and everything. Even the fields recover when they’re no longer being shelled or trampled by horses and hospital wagons. Emilie’s hope is fragile, however, and based more in wishful thinking than in fact—just because the front has moved doesn’t mean the war is close to being over.
Themes
They have almost finished the hay harvest when more soldiers pass by the farm, using horse teams to haul heavy artillery guns toward a new position. The draft animals are too exhausted to engage with Joey and Topthorn. And the wasp-eyed leader of the unit (later identified as Herr Major), spends time in the barn appraising the horses.
Emilie’s childish hope for freedom proves fleeting when more German soldiers arrive. Unlike Herr Hauptmann and the medical orderlies—importantly, soldiers tasked with saving lives instead of taking them—the leader of the artillery unit sizes Topthorn and Joey up as draft animals, failing to respect them as individuals.
Themes
Early in the morning, Herr Major pounds on the farmhouse door to rouse Emilie and her grandfather. He announces that he’ll be taking Joey and Topthorn for the war effort since one of his teams needs two additional animals. Emilie begs her grandfather to keep the officers from taking the horses, but he knows they cannot. Summoning all her dignity, Emilie harnesses Joey and Topthorn and bids them farewell. She leads them to the German officer, reminds him that he must take good care of them and return them to her, and then hides herself in the house. Joey remembers the last time someone dragged him away unwillingly. At least now he has Topthorn for companionship.
Emilie has already suffered so many losses in her short life, but the war continues to extract a heinous cost. Now she must give up her beloved equine friends. Although she asserts her ownership and tries to make the Germans promise to take good care of them, her retreat into the house shows that she knows she has no say over their fate and very little chance of seeing them again. And it seems that without her friends she may struggle to summon enough hope to go on.
Themes
