Speaking For The Unspoken

Squire Gordon, Mrs. Gordon, James Howard, John Manly, Blomefield Children, Joe Green, Earshire Park Mistress, Mr. York, Lady Anne, Reuben Smith, Mr. Barry, Jerry Barker, Polly, Harry Dolly, Governor Grant, Jakes Nicholas Skinner, Farmer Thoroughgood, Ellen and Lavinaia Blomefield and many groomers are all humans that are pebbled throughout Beauty’s life as  an owner, a caretaker, or simply a player in the ups and downs of his life. The way that beauty is tossed around from place to place with little to no regard for his feelings, could be compared to a car being traded between dealers, a sandwich being traded at lunch or stocks being exchanged in New York, but I find that the most direct and equivalent correlation of the trafficking of Black Beauty in this novel is to a foster child being passed around to different homes throughout their lives. 

A foster child is taken away from their parents either because they are unable to care for them or because circumstances force the child to be taken from their original home and placed under the care of a guardian.  The child, like Beauty as no choice as to which foster home they are sent to, nor do they have any say of how they are treated in those homes. Each of the humans listed above were involved in Beauty’s life for a small amount of her life and impacted her emotions. He became afraid of bearing reins because her mistress at Earlshall insisted that he wear them while Jerry Barker allowed him to see the depths of a loving family and long for that love for himself. Similar to many foster parents, there were some humans in Beauty’s journey that were loving and desired for him to be happy.  Ginger and Sir Oliver are the equivalents of foster siblings to Beauty. 

They each have their scars and marks from their previous owners. Sir Oliver had his tail chopped off simply because his owner thought it was stylish while Ginger has a bad temper because she was abused by her previous owners. Beauty also had good influence from her ‘foster parents’, such as Mr. Barker. Mr. Barker protected the interests of Beauty because he took ownership of his feelings. Because Beauty could not speak, Mr. Barker took special interest in the desires of Beauty, as the sole being that could be a voice for those with no verbal voice. “Well, Polly, you may say that my cab will be otherwise engaged; I should not like to have it pasted over with their great bills, and as to make Jack and Captain race about to the public-houses to bring up half-drunken voters, why I think ‘twould be an insult to the horses. No, I shan’t do it’” (42). When humans such as Mr. Barker are involved in an aninmal, such as Beauty’s, life, they set the standards for how all animals should be treated. Animals are essentially a prisoner within themselves in a world based upon the spoken language. When humans are not attentive to the animals needs or desires, they will be blind to them. “I am ashamed to see how men go on that ought to know better. An election is a very serious thing ; at least it ought to be, and every man ought to vote according to his conscience and let his neighbour do the same” (42).  Each person ought to consider the lives of all beings around themselves. Just like a child, an animal is ruled by those of authority to them. Sewell used the powerful tactic of voice to annunciate the importance of humbleness in authority and care for others. Simply because an individual is comfortable in their place, each is not to their own. Animals are born without voice and I agree with Sewell in that it is time to take the initiative for the animals and speak for them.

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