Whittington

The novel opens with an epigraph, taken from Hebrews 13:2 in the Christian Bible, which establishes the theme of Finding Healing Through Community and Cooperation: “Be not forgetful to entertain strangers: for thereby some have entertained angels unawares.” Armstrong opens Chapter 1 with Whittington’s arrival at the barn; the juxtaposition of this to the epigraph suggests that the budding friendships between Whittington and the barn animals will be significant to his growth.

Armstrong also uses Chapter 1 to establish Whittington’s initial characterization via the use of physical description:

He was the color of old metal, broad-faced with thick whiskers and dark lines that ran from his nose to his forehead and down his back and sides. His coat was rumpled and slack, for all he was big […] He was stiff and walked low to the ground. His left ear hung down like a loose flap. He wasn’t old, but he looked beaten up (1).

These descriptions enforce an image of Whittington as world-weary and weakened, positioning him to grow through finding comfort and healing at the barn.

Chapters 1-9 are primarily devoted to exposition. Armstrong often adopts a didactic tone from a third person omniscient perspective to deliver both narrative exposition and factual context about the animals, such as when he explains the purpose of dirt baths: “It’s surprising how dust cleans hair and soothes itches. Lice and fleas can’t abide it” (7). This perspective allows Armstrong to deliver insight not only into the animal characters but into the human ones as well.

The didactic tone is particularly prevalent in Chapters 2 and 6, as Armstrong uses it to deliver educational context on the different species living in the barn. He uses the animals’ dialogue in Chapter 6 to communicate both the characters’ personal histories and factual context on the species represented in the barn. Although the novel utilizes animal fantasy elements via the anthropomorphizing of animals, the factual animal context simultaneously grounds the narrative in realism.

Chapter 3 introduces Bernie, the owner of the farm, and the important role he has played in creating the setting through which the barn animals find both home and community. Although the horses are frightened by their unfamiliar surroundings, Bernie works hard to create comfortable living spaces for them, and “once they began stacking the green bales it began to smell like home” (14). Bernie is continually characterized as compassionate and attentive to his animals, strengthening the novel’s emphasis on community and charity. Through the omniscient third person narrator, Armstrong evokes the parallels between the human and animal characters, suggesting their bonds as important parts of the Finding Healing Through Community and Cooperation theme.

Chapters 2 and 6 introduce and develop the dynamics between the barn animals, demonstrating the friendship that undergirds their coexistence. Armstrong uses interspecies relationships and barn life as a motif throughout the novel to develop the importance of cooperation and community (See: Symbols & Motifs). Armstrong establishes the rats as threats to that harmony, as they “would rush from their holes, chittering and squealing, to chase the Lady and the chickens from the grain” (17). This initial antagonistic characterization sets the rats up to undergo positive transformation, and for the novel to explore the value of community and cooperation via their arc.

Armstrong establishes two of the novel’s three major plot lines in the first chapter set. Chapter 1 establishes Whittington’s story to find a new home in the barn, while Chapter 4 introduces Abby and Ben and the challenging circumstances they are grappling with surrounding their mother’s death. Like Whittington, the siblings are coping with loss and displacement, strengthening the parallel between humans and animals in the novel. The friendship they develop with the horses in Chapter 4 suggests that these human-animal bonds will play an important role for Ben and Abby as they cope with the challenges of grief and Ben’s dyslexia.

The first set of chapters takes place over several months, and Armstrong uses seasonal changes to reinforce the realistic farm setting and to signal transitions into new stages of the narrative. The animals take their final dirt baths of the season in Chapter 8, while winter’s arrival in Chapter 9 coincides with the Lady prompting Whittington for the story behind his name. This signals a shift into the next stage of the story, wherein Armstrong introduces the third plot line surrounding Dick Whittington’s story.