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45 pages 1 hour read

Walter Farley

The Black Stallion

Fiction | Novel | Middle Grade | Published in 1941

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Chapters 1-5Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Chapter 1 Summary: “Homeward Bound”

Alec Ramsey is a passenger on the Tramp steamer called the Drake leaving Bombay, India, headed toward his home in the United States. He plans to travel through the Gulf of Aden and the Suez Canal, around the Mediterranean coast to England. There he will board the passenger ship the Majestic and sail to New York City. Alec enjoyed his time in India with his Uncle Ralph, a missionary, who taught him a lot about riding horses. Alec loves horses and is excited to be sailing off the coast the Arabian Desert, near the origin of the world’s best horses, and isn’t daunted by the vast desert view.

On the way home the Drake stops at an Arabian port and the ship takes on a giant black stallion. Alec has never seen a horse so awe-inspiring. The horse is incredibly difficult to handle and injures a deckhand in the struggle to get him on board. Finally, they put the stallion in a stall on the main deck. For the remainder of the journey, the horse kicks against the inside of the stall, which sailors reinforce. At night, Alec goes to the horse's stall and puts sugar cubes on the railing. Though the horse never comes to him, he takes the sugar.

Chapter 2 Summary: “The Storm”

One night off the coast of Portugal, a terrible storm arises. The ship rolls violently in the water. The motion throws Alec from his bed and he puts his life jacket on. The boat flounders in the great swells. The storm seems to calm just before a terrific bolt of lightning strikes it, knocking Alec, unconscious, to the deck. He wakes to find people stepping all around him. The lightning splits the boat, which starts to sink. He sees a man washed overboard. Alec goes to the lifeboats, where the captain barks orders.

The swarthy man who brought the Black Stallion aboard tries to take Alec’s lifejacket, then leaps toward the second lifeboat. He falls into the sea and disappears. Alec to remembers the black stallion, determined to rescue the horse, thinking, “he was going to set it set him free and give him his chance to fight for life.” (11)

Alex goes to the stallion’s stall and opens the door. The Black bolts toward the open rail. As he jumps into the water, he knocks Alec into the ocean too. Alec rises to the surface in time to see the Drake sink. The horse swims by him, trailing a lead rope that Alec ties around himself. The horse swims for hours in the choppy water until he finds a deserted island. As the Black pulls himself onto the shore, Alec tumbles along behind him. He finds the knife his uncle gave him and cuts himself loose from the horse. Exhausted, Alec falls asleep on the beach.

Chapter 3 Summary: “The Island”

Alec wakes the next morning and takes in all he can see. The island is only a couple miles wide and totally uninhabited. There are rocky cliffs at one end and a sandy beach at the other. There is very little vegetation. Alec finds a few berries to eat. The Black is grazing upon what little grass there is, which Alec realizes will soon be gone. He finds a pool in the middle of the island that is filled with clear, fresh water, from which he and the Black take turns drinking. As the sun goes down, he realizes the magnificence of where they are. The sun begins to set and as the stars and moon appear, Alec feels as though he and the horse are the only beings on the planet.

Searching for food the next day Alec makes a spear to snag fish. Knowing he needs to build a shelter; Alec finds driftwood along the beach. He recognizes that some of the wood he is using has come from the lifeboats of the Drake. He remembers how to make a fire so he can keep himself warm at night. Eventually, as he scouts the island, he discovers that the rocky part of the beach contains a seaweed moss that can be washed, dried, and eaten. It is both food for him and fodder for the horse. He provides food for himself and food for the Black so that they do not starve.

Chapter 4 Summary: “The Wildest of All Wild Creatures”

The day after Alec finds the edible seaweed, he goes back toward the cliffs to gather more. He sees the Black standing majestically atop a mound. Suddenly, the Black rears and charges toward him as if to attack. Alec stumbles and falls. The Black rears up and smashes the sand in front of Alec repeatedly. As he runs away, Alec sees a venomous snake the horse has killed. From this point, the friendship between the horse and the boy increases daily. Alec provides food for the horse and the horse allows him to draw incrementally nearer. Finally, he can touch the horse, then put his weight on him, and climb up on him. They ride together across the island.

Alec realizes that he has been on the island for 19 days and knows his parents think he is dead. He watches the horizon, hoping a ship will appear each day. He goes to bed one night, having stoked his campfire to stay warm. He wakes to the surreal calling of the Black. His shelter is on fire. The blaze consumes the wooden shelter and several nearby trees. Alec watches his shelter burn in spectacular fashion, the flames reaching high into the night sky. He perceives this to be a disaster, until in the morning when a lifeboat arrives with a group of Irish sailors who saw the fire.

Chapter 5 Summary: “Rescue”

Alec quickly realizes that a rescue crew is only half of the struggle. Now he must convince them to take the Black Stallion. At first, he cannot convince them there really is a black stallion. They believe he is delirious. He whistles for the Black who does not answer. The men prepare to put Alec on the boat and Alec runs away from them, calling for the Black who answers and comes over the hill. The stallion is such a fearsome sight that most of the men climb back into the lifeboat.

Alec argues with the captain at length. Eventually they decide to help Alec take the horse onto the ship if he can figure out how to get the Black to it. Alec sits in the rowboat and calls to the horse. Eventually the Black follows him into the water.

At the ship, the horse fights against those trying to bind him. Alec takes a line and dives under the horse and up the other side, securing the Black in a harness. The thrashing legs of the stallion severely injure Alec’s leg. The ship raises the horse, fighting and kicking, into the air as Alec makes his way back to the rowboat. He passes out just as the sailors grab him.

Alec wakes up in bed a day and a half later. Pat, one of the sailors, tells him they had to choke the horse into submission and put him in a stall, which the stallion has been kicking against continually. Pat asks for Alec’s name and address so they can contact his parents and tell them Alec is alive and on his way to Rio de Janeiro in the boat.

Chapters 1-5 Analysis

The Black Stallion builds upon the tradition of boys’ adventure books that were popular throughout the first half of the 20th Century. These brief novels featured adolescent male protagonists who found themselves in precarious circumstances. Invariably, a malevolent force worked against them, though the good boys would inevitably prevail, reinforcing some set of higher ideals that guided them. This scenario is clear in Farley’s novel, as a boy who is upright, sincere, and completely devoted to horses enlists the help of many strangers in different parts of the world to acquire and perfect the world’s greatest stallion.

Farley goes beyond the adventure book formula to incorporate threads from other sources. The narrative also exceeds the traditional adventure book in its complexity and levels of meaning. The story repeatedly draws upon the contrast of opposites: the youthful Alec partners with the retired Henry; the wild stallion is only at peace when stabled with the docile Napoleon. In working these opposites together, Farley creates a consistent storyline in which the deepest yearning of all the characters—human and animal—find fulfillment.

Farley maintains a consistent narrative over an elaborate plot, builds suspense, and creates believable characters. The story is written from the third person point-of-view, primarily following Alec. There are a couple of occasions when Farley describes encounters to which Alec is not privy, as between Jake and Henry or Henry and Mr. Ramsay.

Chapters 1-5 are a complete adventure in themselves. On the island, where Alec showcases his survivor skills to build a shelter, start a fire, and find a reliable food source, the narrative follows an adventure book formula that will end when Alec is predictably rescued. Farley’s variation on the formula reveals itself when Alec nearly dies trying to get the Black on his rescue ship.

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