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Chapter 19
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
All through the morning of the announcement, Joey watches the men huddle together conspiratorially in the yard. The horses feel the rising tension and become nervous, too. Finally, in the evening, Sergeant Thunder calls the men together. Joey watches him stash the money they hand him in a tin box. He tells them all they’ve done the best they can do; everyone—including Major Martin—has contributed as much as they possibly can, given the meager pay they receive. The Sergeant will accept responsibility for doing the bidding at the auction, even though it’s against orders. Hoping against hope that they have enough, Sergeant Thunder tells the orderlies to get some rest, and exhorts them to get up early the next day and do their best grooming and preparing the horses for the auction. It's the least they can do for the poor animals.
The friendship between Joey and Albert continues to affect the lives of those around them. No one can imagine losing Joey at this point, not after Albert—and the rest of the orderlies and staff at the hospital—have lavished him with so much care and concern. It’s a mark of their respect for Joey and Albert that they all combine their own meager wages to try to bid on the horse at auction. And, of course, this second auction recalls Joey’s first auction, which went badly for him and constituted the first major loss of his life—that of his mother. Even as they face an uncertain future, the orderlies show their concern and love for the horses in their care—and their respect for the animals’ inherent dignity as living creatures—by trying to show them in their best light.
Themes
The knot of men disperses, all except Albert, who walks up to Joey’s stable and tells him that the men have done all they can. He won’t tell Joey what he’s afraid will happen, because he firmly believes that the horse can understand his every word, and he doesn’t want to worry his friend. In Sunday School, Albert learned that God helps people who help themselves. He has done everything he can—asking Major Martin and Sergeant Thunder for help, contributing his own money—and now he can only wait to see what happens. Joey’s heart warms as Albert talks; it’s the first real conversation they’ve had since David’s death.
Albert’s ability to hope in the future received a disastrous blow with the loss of his good friend David to the violence of the war. But as he yet again faces possible separation from Joey, the care of the men in his unit supports him. It seems that hope for humanity and a better future remains. Importantly, as Albert demonstrates, hope doesn’t just mean waiting for fate to decide—instead, it’s an active choice to persevere, even though life confounds people over and over with the threat of loss, pain and suffering.
Themes
In the morning, the orderlies feed and water the horses and groom them until their coats shine in the sunlight. Joey watches as people make successful bids on the other horses. Memories of his first auction echo in his mind, but he calms himself by focusing on Albert’s reassuring words from the night before. When one of the orderlies walks Joey out into the yard, the bidders and onlookers express approval for the beautiful horse. And the bids quickly rise until only Sergeant Thunder and a greedy-looking little man remain in competition. The greedy man bids twenty-seven pounds—more than Sergeant Thunder has in his possession—and Albert whispers a prayer for God to intervene, since he’s heard that the greedy man is a butcher.
Joey remains aware of the similarities between his first auction—which separated him from his mother—and this one, which might separate him from Albert. Albert worries when their main competition proves to be a butcher, and his fears are based in historical reality. The British Army did auction off many of its war horses, and many of these horses were, in fact butchered and sold as meat in the lean days while continental Europe worked to recover from the devastation of WWI. Only divine intervention—a miracle almost as unlikely as Albert and joey finding each other again, or Joey surviving tetanus—can save them now.
Themes
But just before the auctioneer can drop his gavel, a gray-haired man in the crowd bids twenty-eight pounds. The man turns to the butcher and warns him he won’t be outbid. He’s willing to pay £100 for Joey on behalf of his granddaughter Emilie. Hearing her name, Joey finally recognizes the man as Emilie’s grandfather, even though he seems to have aged many years. No one speaks. The disappointed butcher turns away, and the auctioneer’s gavel falls.
Just as it seems that Joey will be sold to the rapacious butcher, a surprise bid comes in. It seems that Joey will be spared the worst possible fate—he may not be going home with Albert, but at least Emilie’s grandfather will care for and love him. The relationships that Joey has forged along his long and unlikely path during the war continue to bear fruit and provide hope for his future.
Themes
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