Black Beauty

The inherent goodness of animals is a key theme in the novel, and Sewell uses it as compelling evidence to support her argument that animals should be treated with kindness and care. By showing that animals are inherently good, loyal, and inclined to try to please humans, Sewell makes it almost impossible for anyone to justify mistreating them. The portrayal of the goodness of animals also makes the cruelty they experience even more horrifying because the theme creates contrast and highlights the injustice of the way animals are often treated. Sewell develops the theme of the inherent goodness of animals by showing animals displaying intuitive intelligence. For example, Black Beauty refuses to cross a river where a bridge has flooded and washed away; Squire Gordon later reports that “if your Black Beauty had not been wiser than we were, we should all have been carried down the river” (44). This example is important because when he refuses to cross the bridge, Black Beauty might be perceived as being stubborn or rebellious, but he is actually acting in the best interest of the humans. Squire Gordon and John are wise enough to appreciate Beauty’s intuitive intelligence, and later talk about “many stories […] of dogs and horses, and the wonderful things they had done” (44), but other humans might have misunderstood, and even punished Beauty.