The book is told from the horse’s point of view who comes
home to a family and the son names the him Joey. Joey belongs to the Narracott family, where he is placed in
the same stable as the other horse named Zoey. The father makes Albert’s responsibility to take care of
Joey and train him to become a stronger horse. Albert’s father is a drunk who
often comes home late at night and causes trouble with the family and the
horses. Albert’s mother is a kind,
caring lady who ignores the problems her husband causes and usually keeps to
herself. In 1914 World War I is declared
after the Germans invade Belgium. Albert’s family sells Joey to the American army for money to
continue running the farm. He is
very disappointed and begs Captain Nicholls to join the Army but he is too
young.
I feel sorry for Albert's mom. I bet it was difficult for her to be like the mediator between Albert and his father. Albert's father might have unwittingly done a great thing by buying Joey, an untrained colt. I bet that bonding with him, training him, and riding him daily gave Albert a great escape from the stresses of his family life. Hippotherapy is a pretty mainstream practice around here....so in that regard, the old man was ahead of his time.
ReplyDeleteAfter reading the first three chapters, I had a sincere dislike for Albert's father considering he came home drunk and he seemed to be verbally abusive with Albert and Joey. After reading the last few pages in chapter four though, I realized the pain that he was going through in not only letting down his son but knowing his family was depending on him financially. I think it's interesting how one passage changed my entire opinion of who he was as a father and as a husband.
ReplyDeleteBefore ever reading this book I thought the main point of it was going to tell a story about a horse who did something incredible during a war. However, after only the first four chapters it is easy to see that relationships are the main focus. These relationships are no just between people either, but also between the horse and different people. There is a lot of struggle in this book and it is relationship I believe that will get the people and Joey through it. I'm excited to continue to read to see how these relationships pan out.
ReplyDeleteI think that this book is very interesting because the story is told from the horse's point of view. I think that this sets up the scenario where we only really see some of the family and not the whole home life, like we would if we saw it from Alberts point of view. I think that MacKensie is right when she talks about relationships and that the first 4 chapters is full of them. I am interested to see if the family relationships are still talked about and if Albert is still talked about by Joey, even though he just got sold to the general for war. Joey seems very close to Albert in the first four chapters, and I wonder if moving locations for him, will affect him in a negative way. I am looking forward to seeing how Joey does as a "War Horse".
ReplyDeleteWhen we were first given the list of books to read i wasnt very impressed with any of them and i just chose a random book. Im very glad i chose this book. It, so far, has been really good. I find it really interesting that it is from joey's perspective. I do feel bad for both Joey and Albert since they were separated. Hopefully they will get back together soon.
ReplyDeleteSo far, I am really enjoying reading "War Horse." I think the author does an amazing job developing his characters and I totally agree with Chloe's comment about Albert's father. In the beginning, I had so many hard feelings towards Albert's father and after reading about his personal struggles and financial problems with the farm I really began to understand his character more. I still do not like the way he treated Joey because there is no excuse for animal abuse. I am an animal lover and am very passionate about animals. There is something so innocent and pure about animals that can be very hard to find in humans. Before really knowing that much about Albert's father I judged him and thought he was an evil, cruel-hearted character. However, I was really touched by Albert's father when he was talking to Captain Nicholls on page 26: "'You'll look after him, sir?' he said. 'You'll see he comes to no harm? My son's very fond of him, you see.' He reached out and brushed my nose with his hand. There were tears filling his eyes. At that moment he became almost a likable man to me." This passage made me believe that maybe Albert's father isn't so bad after all. Atleast he is finally showing care and compassion for someone other than himself. I also agree with Jen about feeling sorry for Albert's mom because she is in a really tough spot where she has to defend her husband's wrong doings to her son. It's a very sad family situation and I hope to see a much happier ending for them in this book. Of course, I also hope that Albert and Joey are reunited! Their relationship amazes me and inspires me to spend more time with horses. After all, they are fascinating creatures.
ReplyDeleteI chose to comment on this post again because in the beginning of the story we learn that Joey has a use on Albert's family's farm by hauling a cart in the fields with Zoey. He had to be trained on how to do this and it was important for him to have use and to earn his keep. Now that we are half way through the story we realize that this trait and skill he has built has become necessary again when he is on the German side. He is now hauling bodies from the war zones back to hospitals and now he is the leader showing Tophorn how to do it. This reconnects the beginning with the middle and shows how horses were used before we had more advanced and readily available technology.
ReplyDelete