Symbolism, Imagery, Allegory
Setting
This just in: war sucks. Although War Horse doesn't have the graphic violence of All Quiet on the Western Front or Saving Private Ryan, it's still pretty brutal. People die. Horses die. Stuff...
Narrator Point of View
If you've heard one war story, you haven't heard them all. War Horse changes things up because its narrator is a horse. And he's not a person trapped inside a horse's body. He is full-blown horse....
Genre
A Pony TaleWar Horse is a coming-of-age story told at an accelerated pace. Joey's turbulent teenage years occur when he's only six months old, "wild and vicious" (2.9) and listening to no one. If h...
What's Up With the Title?
Joey is a horse. He's at war. The end.Actually, not so fast. Did you notice the contrast in War Horse between the horses and the machines? In one memorable scene, Joey flees in panic as a massive t...
What's Up With the Ending?
The war is over. Joey is back home. Everyone's happy. Right? Not quite. There's something unusual about the final line of War Horse: Try as I might, I never got to eat any of [Maisie's] pastries, a...
Tough-o-Meter
Even if this is your first day at the rodeo, you won't have any trouble with War Horse. Our horse narrator, Joey, uses basic vocabulary and a pretty simple sentence structure. Reading this book is...