Bull Run

Horses are a motif that support the novel’s theme that War Is Always Destructive. Horses are primarily introduced through Shem Suggs, who has a deep affection for the animals. He views them as family and portrays them as loving and innocent creatures. When Shem listens to a section of Gulliver’s Travels being read aloud, horses stand out in contrast to people and their capacity for carnage. The passage describes horses who rule their own country and are “wise,” while humans are “the foulest of beasts” (54). The horses cannot believe that men wage war and have invented so many tools for killing. The passage in Gulliver’s Travels uses irony to show that while humans view themselves as “far advanced beyond horses” (54), they are actually inferior to the wise and gentle animals. Horses are capable of being peaceful in a way that people are not, highlighting the human propensity for destruction and violence. After the Battle of Bull Run, Shem’s description of the dead and suffering horses intensifies the tragedy of the battle for the reader. The injured horses, some of whom are “crushed to death or squealing like pigs” (92), must suffer the consequences of war without choosing to be a part of it.