Review of Black Beauty by Anna Sewell

Black Beauty by Anna Sewell is the story of a horse that experiences love and tenderness along with cruelty and hate.

In this story, Black Beauty starts out with a peaceful life with his mother. His first master is a kind owner. He provides good quality of food and living space. His kind master did not sell Black Beauty until he was four years old. He was soon broken in, but it was a pleasant experience for Beauty because his master was gentle with him. After Beauty gets used to all of the riding equipment, his master sells him to a man named Squire Gordon.

From there he had many up and downs, many cruel and hateful owners, but many kind and loving masters. He becomes a terribly treated cab horse and the ornament of a woman who wants to ride in style. Will Beauty ever find a home that will treat him with respect and gentleness that this amazing horse deserves?

The importance of the offensiveness of animal abuse is shown throughout the whole book. Though Black Beauty tries his hardest to please his cruel masters, they still beat him. He did not bite back to kick them, but took it with tolerance and love.

We can learn a lesson from this book, even though it points to animal abuse. What about people abuse? We often hurt each other with harsh words and sometimes even with harsh actions. I have learned from this book to turn the other cheek, not lose patience or fight back when I am wounded in my spirit. I also learned that if I abuse someone with my words or actions that I can hurt them, even if they don't seem to care.

Though this book was amazing, one element I did not like was the animal abuse portrayed. I don't really like animal abuse AT ALL, and I am an avid horse lover. So this book is not exactly in my top ten or twenty. This book made made to show how terrible animal abuse is and it may have been written to portray the feeling of animals. However, it is a wonderful classic and is good for a book report or reading on your own time.

God Bless,