"The New Horse Times"
Article written by Jack McKenna
Hay Albert
Joey, a calm horse living in a farm becomes the strongest horse of the cavalry. War Horse, written by Micheal Morpurgo takes place around 1913-1918. The main character in War Horse is Joey, a simple farm horse. This book is told from the perspective of Joey the horse. His caretaker’s name is Albert and he plays a substantial role in the book as well.
Joey undergoes several challenges throughout the book. Joey is a farm horse but when WW l starts, Joey is sent off to be a war horse. Joey goes into battle untrained the next morning. In that battle two major events happen. Joey’s rider is shot and killed and Joey and his fellow war horse get taken by Germans, who use him to carry dead bodies from the war. Joey will have to find his way out of this camp to go back to his Albert. Joey also faces many other shocking and frightening challenges.
The climax and resolution of this book will shock you. The climax of War Horse was the second and third battle of World War I when Joeys is caught by the Germans. The resolution for this story is when Albert rides Joey back up to his father’s farm for a Christmas celebration.
The Little Horse That Could
Joey is the character that tells the story, making it easier to learn and understand him, since he tells the story and expresses his thoughts. One trait I would use to describe Joey would be brave and/or courageous. For example in the first war of WW l when his rider is shot off, he runs and runs at the crazed horde of enemy troops. “ I saw grey shoulders ahead of us raise their rifles and heard the death rattle of a machine gun, and then quite suddenly I found that I had no rider... but with the horses behind me I knew only one way to gallop, and that was forward.” pg.46. Joey also has several amazing traits but brave is one of his strongest.
The History of Horses
One true fact in the story is that men can get sent to war in a very short notice.
“They say there’s near half a million ruddy horses out here and you joined the Veterinary Corps just on the off-chance you might come across him.’ I pawed the ground with my bad leg in an effort to make Albert look more closely,” Pgs.91-92
This connects to the time period because in this passage Albert is in the Veterinary Corps at age 14-16. In the times of WW I young men had to be sent out to fight because there weren't enough men.
Another fact from the book is that in the 1900’s the father had control of the household.
“But your father said to leave him alone, Albert’ said the boys mother. Said it’ll do him good to be left alone. He told you not to touch him.”
In this passage the mother is very tense because if the father finds out that his wife has betrayed him he will become very upset. In the story the father is always drunk tis was also the case with many fathers in the early 1900’s. Pg.10
“ The gentle squeak of leather, the jingling harnesses and the noise of hastily barked orders were drowned now by the pounding of the hooves.” Pg.38
This reflects history because before WW II the main form of war was the calvary. They had the calvary because in that time there were no helicopters, planes, or jeeps.
Tales of a Timeline
1914- July 28th World War I starts.
1928- The Soviet Union was at its highest point of command.
1942- World War II was at its most hectic stage, people were dying in huge mobs.
1956- The Korean War was at its worst, ships and planes were getting bombed.
1970- The Vietnam War was fading, there was less fighting and some soldiers were getting sent back to america.
1984- Union Carbide had a toxic spill killing approximately 2,000 and injuring over 150,000 in Bhopal, India.
1998- Large ice storm hits Quebec leaving people with no electricity for months.
2012- Obama is the first black president to get reelected for a second term.
Final Words
In this picture Albert is saying his final goodbye’s to Joey before he is sent of to join the cavalry. This is a turning point because Albert and Joey will not see each other for most of the story.
Make a Break
This is Joey running in the woods before he is trapped by a snare leaving him stationary so the Germans could capture him. This is an important part in the book because Joey spends lots of the book in the setting of the a German farm.
The second encounter
This is a picture of the first time Albert sees Joey since the day Joey left for the war. This is meaningful because after this Albert gets his wish of finding Joey and bringing him back to safety.