Is such a positive approach to characterization a strength or a weakness of the novel? Why? None of the important characters in War Horse emerges as entirely unlikable or unsympathetic. By using Joey as the storyteller, Morpurgo is able to teach the reader important historical details because each detail constitutes a part of Joey's experience. We also learn about war away from the battlefield when Joey and Topthorn become ambulance horses. We learn about the geography of the War and also about the brutal trenches and fighting positions. From the start of the novel, we learn how the Army obtained its horses and how they were trained.

It is harrowing to read of Joey's fear as the battlefield is seen almost in a neutral way, not from one side or the other. Morpurgo manages to teach the reader about World War I by portraying it through the eyes of a character with which it is easy to identify on account of strong, straightforward emotions. How the author's choice to use an animal as the novel's main character teach readers about the real history of World War I? Albert could tell people about her and her love for the horses if Joey were to stay in France with her grandfather, her memory would die with him. In addition, by telling Albert about Emilie, the grandfather was keeping her memory alive for generations to come. Why did Emilie's grandfather allow Albert to buy Joey from him? What does this act show the reader about Emilie's grandfather's character, and about his relationship with his granddaughter?Įmilie's grandfather wanted to honor Emilie's memory and keep it alive by bringing 'her' horses home however, seeing Albert and Joey's love for each other made him realize that he could honor the spirit of Emilie with an act of pure love, which was allowing Joey to go home with his friend and master. War Horse also shows that war has a tendency to depersonalize people-and that the soldiers on the ground are not the people with the differences that instigated the war in the first place. This element of the narrative tells us that the soldiers on either side are very similar and bear no especially personal ill will toward the soldiers on the opposing side-soldiers whom they are nonetheless trying to kill.

When he is trapped in No Man's Land between lines of barbed wire, soldiers from the opposing armies work together to free him and agree to decide his ownership by tossing a coin. Both armies treat him as a valuable member of the battalion and do not treat him as having any particular nationality. Joey's experiences are remarkably similar whether he is with the British army or the German army. What do Joey's experiences throughout the novel suggest about the nature of war?

War Horse by Michael Morpurgo