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Chapter 7
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
Joey, Trooper Warren, and the rest of the unit pick their way carefully across the shell holes and muck of no-man’s-land at a trot. But as they approach the German trench line, they suddenly realize that it’s still protected by a roll of vicious barbed wire. The British troops thought their artillery fire had cleared the wire away, but they were wrong. And as the cavalry picks up speed, German artillery shells begin to fall in their midst. Warren prays aloud as he rides, and his prayers turn to curses as they get closer to the line of barbed wire. Only a few horses and riders make it that far, including Captain Stewart and Topthorn and Joey and Trooper Warren. They pick their way through a few holes blasted in the wire by lucky British artillery only to find the trenches empty.
The way in which the view from the trenches remains limited metaphorically suggests the blindness of both sides in the conflict. Most importantly, this blindness leads to incredible amounts of pain and suffering, as horses string themselves up on the razor-sharp barbed wire. The old-fashioned technology of men on horses can’t meet the demands of modern warfare with its industrial products (like barbed wire) and sophisticated artillery and machine guns. Joey and Topthorn demonstrate their own courage and strength of character by making it all the way across no-man’s-land, but the empty trench of the other side suggests the pointlessness of their efforts.
Themes
The German forces have retreated—and are firing—from the woods farther up the hill, behind another line of barbed wire hidden in the trees. Some unlucky horses fail to see it in time and end up tangled in it. Joey can’t see a way through it; he and Trooper Warren jump over it behind Captain Stewart and Topthorn. They’re the only ones to complete the charge. As German troops surround the horses and riders, Joey looks behind him. Riderless horses gallop back toward the British line while wounded and dying soldiers and horses lie scattered on the hill. Stewart and Warren drop their weapons. Stewart expresses pride in Topthorn and Joey, who have just proved themselves to be the best horses in the whole Army. And he reflects on the great, foolish waste of trying to use horses against machine guns and barbed wire.
Instead of advancing, the German troops have retreated, but they’re still able to effectively demolish the charging cavalry battalion. The impersonality of modern warfare contributes to its horror—the German soldiers kill the British soldiers from so far away they never have to look at the destruction they cause. Joey doesn’t have the luxury of ignoring this destruction, though. Stewart recognizes the shift and realizes that it makes cavalry officers and horses alike not just obsolete but particularly vulnerable in this war. Still, despite the odds stacked against them, Topthorn and Joey continue to prove their loyalty and courage.
Themes
Trooper Warren wants to know what will happen to Topthorn and Joey; Captain Stewart explains that the Germans will consider all four of them—men and horses—prisoners of war. German troops escort them over the hill to the valley beyond, untouched by the fighting. Warren strokes Joey’s neck, promising to remember him. When they reach the road, the Germans lead the men and their horses in opposite directions.
Joey faces loss yet again, softened only by the fact that Topthorn remains by his side. This, and the knowledge that the Germans will likely treat them will give him some hope for the future. Neither side can afford to waste valuable horsepower, which they rely on to move equipment.
Themes
