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Mr. and Mrs. Briggs
The gentleman is a kind older man and an animal lover who occasionally hires Jerry and Black Beauty’s cab. He’s unique in that he acknowledges and pats horses pulling cabs—most people ignore them. Black Beauty also witnesses the gentleman, who has no apparent connection to John Manly or Squire Gordon, echo those men’s insistence that it’s essential to stand up for people and animals who cannot advocate for themselves.
The Gentleman Quotes in Black Beauty
The Black Beauty quotes below are all either spoken by The Gentleman or refer to The Gentleman. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Chapter 38 Quotes
“Do you know why this world is as bad as it is?”
“No,” said the other.
“Then I’ll tell you. It is because people think only about their own business, and won’t trouble themselves to stand up for the oppressed, nor bring the wrong-doer to light. […]”
“My doctrine is this, that if we see cruelty or wrong that we have the power to stop, and do nothing, we make ourselves sharers in the guilt.”
Related Characters:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
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The Gentleman Character Timeline in Black Beauty
The timeline below shows where the character The Gentleman appears in Black Beauty. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 38
One day, as Jerry is eating his soup and chatting with Dolly, a gentleman approaches quickly and hails Jerry. Jerry starts to give his soup back to Dolly, but...
(full context)
One day, when the gentleman and one of his friends take Jerry’s cab, they stop so the friend can run...
(full context)
