Beautiful Joe and the Humane vs. Cruel in Saunders' Novel

Introduction: Beautiful Joe and the Ethics of Animal Treatment

Beautiful Joe: An Autobiography (1893) situates human-animal relationships within the protective circle of middle-class family life, depicting childrearing and pet-keeping as mutually constitutive practices. Margaret Marshall Saunders' canine life narrative relates the experiences of its eponymous narrator, an abused dog who is rescued from a brutal milkman and adopted by the loving Morris family of Fairport, Maine (Walker). The Morrises' approach to parenting exemplifies what Richard Brodhead describes as disciplinary intimacy — a model of coercive nurturance that favors emotional guidance over physical punishment. Strongly opposed to beating, Mrs. Morris shapes the moral conscience of her children through a steady diet of "good nursing, great sustenance, and kind words" (Saunders 34).

Pet-keeping fits seamlessly into Mrs. Morris's philosophy of childrearing, which she refers to as "heart training." In a conversation with a family friend, Mrs. Morris explains how caring for animals has transformed her "tediously, disgustingly childish" children into "the most honorable chaps in Fairport" (Saunders, pp. 39, 38). Through this domestic ideal, Saunders' novel argues that humane treatment of animals and the cultivation of moral character in children are inseparable goals.

Humane Childrearing and the Morris Household

Most of the responsible adult figures in Beautiful Joe embrace a sympathetic philosophy of child-rearing. Mrs. Morris's kind and wise sister-in-law, Mrs. Wood, frequently addresses her family on the social necessity of a humane education for children. In a conversation with her niece, Mrs. Wood attributes widespread moral failure to the "absence of appropriate preparation" for the country's youth (Saunders, p. 145). "We are contemplating teaching the mind," she laments, "and overlooking the whole person" (Saunders, p. 145). To correct this imbalance, Mrs. Wood suggests that teachers introduce "lessons of affection" alongside geography, history, and grammar (Saunders, p. 145).

The novel consistently emphasizes the malleability of children and the importance of humane socialization (Walker). Joe presents his memoir as an attempt to cultivate empathy for animals in young readers: "If all the boys and girls were to rise up and say that there should be no more cruelty to animals, they could put a stop to it. Perhaps it will help a little if I tell a story … I think the more stories there are written about dumb creatures, the better it will be for us" (Saunders, p. 14). Saunders thus frames humane education as both a literary and a social project, one in which fiction plays an active role in shaping moral sensibility.

Joe's Suffering and the Case Against Cruelty

Joe's story foregrounds the suffering he endured at the hands of Jenkins, a malicious milkman. Cruelty toward animals was often tolerated on the grounds that animals lacked language, feelings, or a soul. Saunders counters this assumption directly: by giving her animal narrator a first-person voice, she also grants him emotions. This narrative choice immediately generates sympathy for the puppy. Joe is wounded both physically and psychologically. He endures repeated kicking while his mother is whipped until she bleeds. Jenkins also brutally kills Joe's siblings, even as their mother looks on. He then cuts off part of Joe's tail in a fit of rage (Johnson).

Advocates of humane treatment argued that people who abused animals also abused other humans — a claim borne out in the novel's portrayal of Jenkins, who mistreats not only the animals in his care but also his own wife and children. He is later revealed to be a dangerous thief. In young Harry's response to Jenkins's attack on Joe, the novel illustrates how a single person acting on behalf of a helpless animal can make a meaningful difference. It is also demonstrated that laws protecting animals and holding their abusers accountable already exist, having been established by society to guard against cruelty (Johnson). Joe's narrative thus raises a series of pertinent questions: it presents the Morris household as a model of healthy human-animal relations, examines the philosophy that permits cruelty toward animals, and highlights the human actions taken to counter it (Johnson).

Conclusion: Cruelty as Choice and the Legacy of the Novel

Joe's narrative has generated widespread interest in and sensitivity toward the welfare of animals. The story is compellingly told and encourages readers to treat animals humanely, while simultaneously addressing the treatment of farm animals — concerns that remain as relevant today as when Saunders first raised them in 1893. Joe was an Airedale dog, medium-sized and brown, who was severely abused by his owner, including having his tail and ears cut off. He was rescued in 1890 by the father of Saunders's sister-in-law and came to Saunders's attention in 1892. She wrote his story in 1893, changing the setting to Maine to qualify for a competition organized by the American Humane Society. The novel won the contest and was published in 1894.

Beautiful Joe became the first Canadian novel to sell over one million copies, and by 1939 it had sold more than seven million copies worldwide (Ann). Its enduring popularity speaks to the power of Saunders's central argument: that cruelty toward animals is not an inevitable feature of human nature, but a product of poor moral education — and that humane treatment, equally, is a virtue that can be cultivated, taught, and chosen.

Bibliography

Ann, Peggy. Beautiful Joe by Margaret Marshall Saunders. 10 July 2012. 09 April 2016.

Johnson, Claudia Durst. Understanding The Call of the Wild: A Student Casebook to Issues, Sources, and Historical Documents. Greenwood Publishing Group: Portsmouth, 2000.

Saunders, Margaret Marshall. Beautiful Joe. Philadelphia: American Baptist Publication Society, 1893.

Walker, Alyssa Chen. Animal Print: The Literary Production of Humane America. University of Michigan, 2013.