Alec
The novel opens as Alec is on board a ship headed back home to America, where nothing waits but the beginning of school. His return home takes him from the guardianship of a more exciting Uncle and the adventures of an exotic locale. This journey home will be interrupted by a shipwreck and even greater adventure. The story thus becomes an allegorical fantasy about maturation with Alec at its symbolic center representing possibility and potential not held in bondage to the oppression of modern society.
The Black Stallion
Within this allegorical fantasy is the requirement of a symbol of unbound nature not just free of the constriction of societal order, but a representative of the very nature of rebellion against imposition of order. The Black is wild and untamable, but this reveals not to be entirely equitable with anarchic danger. Nature in its purest form, undistilled by the dominion of man, is presented as threatening, but not malevolent.
The Island
It is on the deserted island that Alec and the Black bond and where the symbol of order and the symbol of freedom are allowed to commune without one having to destroy the other. The world of human order and wild animal freedom are allowed to interact naturally without expectations and regulations. The island represents freedom from society where nature can run its course naturally.
The Snake
Although often presented as a realistic story, once one narrows the focus down to the details it becomes more obvious that this novel is pure fantasy and not intended for its focus on nature to be confused with naturalistic fiction. One of the most vivid examples is the appearance of a venomous snake on an island which does not seem to offer any rational explanation for such an inhabitant. The stallion’s killing of the snake should not be taken literally, but figuratively as an act of bonding in which the Black demonstrates he will protect Alec from the forces of evil.
Arabia
Although certainly a statement of its time as much as anything, the continued reference to the multiple nations and cultures which constitute a specific geographic region of the world as “Arabia” should also be viewed symbolically. Especially in light of the fact that the use of the word “Arabia” most often occurs in dialogue by Americans. The symbolic status of Arabia as a strange and exotic place of mystery is cemented by the final words of the novel: “Perhaps, as Henry suggested, the answer there…somewhere in Arabia.”
