Black Beauty: Plot

Literature is a form of art used to express the author's messages and emotions. For example, most folk tales contain moral values that are conveyed to the readers by the events in the story. In the Malaysian context, Pak Pandir is a good example of literary text that could conveys the messages and values well. The story is entertaining and most of the children love it. Indirectly, the readers of all age would learn from the story itself.

The literary text that I would like to highlight in this post is Black Beauty. The only piece written by Anna Sewell, Black Beauty is a story told from the views of a graceful black horse from the days when it was until it became old. Like any other literary text, Black Beauty contains the literary elements; plot, characters, settings, point of views, symbols, themes and tones. In this post, I would focus more on the plot of the story.

There are five stages in the plot of Black Beauty;

Exposition is meant to expose the readers with the background of the story and the main character. The story started when the horse tells the story about his memory as a young colt at a pleasant meadow. From this context, the readers could infer the life of the horse when it was young. The horse also mentioned about it's breaking in process in order to get used with sounds and things that could distract the horse.



As for Rising Action, it is actually made of conflicts and events that is experienced by the protagonist which would direct the story towards the climax. The black horse was sent to a neighbour's pasture near a railroad and prepared to start work. Then, it is sold to Squire Gordon and live comfortably in Birtwick Hall for three years. This is the place where he met other horses like Merrylegs, Ginger and Sir Oliver. In one event, when Black Beauty and Ginger were on their way away from Birtwick, they were caught in a fire. Luckily they managed to escape with the help of James.

Climax is the greatest point of the story. Through these tips, you can identify the climax easily:
The turning point of the story
Usually reveals a missing point in the story
Protagonist experiences a change
Reveals the theme
Black Beauty was sold to Earshall Park and called Black Auster. In an event, Black Beauty was hurt when he was driven by Reuben Smith who was drunk at that time. Smith died while Black Beauty suffered from his ruined knees.


Falling Action occurs after climax where the readers can see the protagonist after the changes occurred and it leads to the Resolution of the story. In Black Beauty's context, he is separated from Ginger and sold to Jerry Barker at a horse fair. Black Beauty works as a horse cab and happened to see Ginger, who was badly treated as a cab horse. Ginger yearns for death as she was in much pain. After awhile, Black Beauty happens to see Ginger's body being carted away.

Resolution is the part where the problems are solved. In other words, it is the end of a story. In Black Beauty's story, the resolution occurred when Black Beauty was taken to an auction where he was sold to Farmer Thorough and his grandson. They believe that they could rehabilitate broken horses like Black Beauty in their country meadow. They succeeded in their work and sold Black Beauty to Ellen and Lavinia Blomefield. Joe Green is still working for the Blomefield. Joe Green was still working for the Blomefield family and recognized Black Beauty, who then settled into a long, happy life in his last home.