The War Horse, Reaction Paper Example

War Horse is an interesting movie about life from the perspective of as horse during World War One. It begins as the main horse character is named Joey is born. Subsequent to his birth, the main horse character Joey is separated from his mare and auctioned to a farm. Joey has the opportunity of being acquired by a gentle owner named Albert. Albert is the central human protagonist of the movie.

Albert is the kindest element in the film. The film details the cruelties which are suffered by the horses as nations wage war against one another. Albert’s father trades Joey as a war horse to the English army in order to help the war efforts of World War One. As Joey the horse is recruited in the armed services, he is acquired by Captain Nichols. Captain Nichols gets killed. Joey subsequently gets acquired by Trooper Warren.

Trooper Warren has a nice personality; however he is not as refined of a horse rider as Captain Nichols. Joey becomes a prisoner of war. The Germans use Joey in order to work as an ambulance for the soldiers. Joey encounters another horse who is Topthorn. Topthorn and Joey are used to perform heavy duty work. Topthorn gets killed.

Joey mourns for Topthorn and the nice caretaker who died next to Topthorn.  This is a tragic scene as the man and the horse are killed together and the nice gentleman dies with his aspect looking upwards. Joey tries to escape the hardships of the war, he continues running until a nice quiet place is found. As he rests, he is awakened to the sound of battle. Joey runs again and becomes ensnared in a chicken wire fence. The chicken wire causes an injury to Joey’s leg and he becomes immobilized.

Joey meets two soldiers who call a temporary truce and discuss the evils of war. As they discuss the evils of war, the gamble in order to see which of them would get the opportunity of owning Joey. The English soldier wins the coin toss. Joey becomes recuperated by the English forces. He is placed onto an ambulance for wounded horses and taken to the English veterinary clinic.

Joey meets a man who is called David. David is Albert’s colleague in the veterinary clinic. Joey meets his original owner again, Albert. Albert has subscribed to the military in the capacity of a veterinarian.  Albert has the opportunity of acknowledging Joey by performing a thorough examination and viewing the beauty mark which he possesses on his face. Joey becomes extremely ill as a result of the lacerations which he received from the chicken wire fence.

The diagnosis is that Joey has contracted tetanus. The recommendation is when   horses contract tetanus is to perform mercy killing. This is conducted in order to save the horse from undue suffering. Albert refuses to perform the mercy killing on Joey. His rationale is that in a war time situation, the value of a man’s life is less than that of a horse. After being carefully nursed back to health by Albert who is also the first horse owner Joey recuperates his health.

The war continues and the effects of the war become more pronounced. David who is Albert’s colleague in the veterinary clinic passes away. The horses which have been injured in the war require attention and Albert must care for them. As the war appears to conclude, everyone dreams about returning to a normal life back home. Life is not that simple.

The war has deprived everyone of resources. The horses are planned to be traded to the French. The military sergeant is upset that after the horses have faithfully served England  in the war, that they will probably be  slaughtered and boiled down into glue or even worse,  that the horses will end up on the butchering table. Joey is depressed. He is unaware of what is going on around him as the soldiers prepare him to be auctioned.

The auction scene is tense. The sergeant engages in a fierce bidding competition with the local butcher at the auction. At this point it begins to seem as if Joey will end up on the butchers table. The bid is made at twenty seven pounds. Right before the final bid is made, the nice patriarch who consoled Joey and Topthorn earlier in the film makes the final bid for Joey.

The patriarch ends up with the owner ship of Joey. The ownership of Joey is given to the nice French family which had provided care for Joey and Topthorn during World War One. The war concludes. The patriarch of Emile’s family provides Albert with the details of what Joey had experienced during the war. Although Albert has very little money, the patriarch of the nice young lady, Emile has passed away and the patriarch of Emile’s family relinquishes ownership of Joey to Albert.

Joey is spared the butcher’s table and gets to return to the nice English village where he had been reared. Joey is once again with his family and the story has a happy ending. This aspect of the movie has a Disney like feel to it.

Works Cited

War Horse. Dir. Steven Spielberg. Dreamworks. 2011.