Old Yeller
Abstract
When people think of the book or the movie, Old Yeller, it is often thought of as a story about the bond between a boy and his dog, a common theme in many TV shows and books. However, Old Yeller, as it turns out, proves to be much more than that; it is a true coming-of-age story. At 14 years old, Travis Coates lives with his mother and little brother, Arliss, in the hill country of Texas during the 1860s when his father must leave home to work on a cattle drive. He leaves Travis to “act a man’s part” and take care of the family in his absence. While working in a cornfield one day, Travis come across Old Yeller and tries to drive him away, but his younger brother, Arliss likes Old Yeller and Mama thinks he would be good for Arliss. When Old Yeller saves Arliss from a black bear, he wins the affection of the family, especially Travis with whom he forms a strong bond. Later on, Old Yeller contracts rabies when saving Mama and Lisbeth from a pack of wolves. As a precaution, Old Yeller must be put in a pen as a precaution in case he develops any signs of rabies. When Old Yeller begins to show the symptoms of rabies, Travis is forced to make a difficult decision—to tie Old Yeller to die a long painful death, or to shoot him to end his suffering and learns firsthand one of the most difficult virtues of true manhood-- sacrifice.
Keywords: bond, manhood, family, love, sacrifice. While the relationship between a boy and his dog is a persistent theme in children and young adults’ as well as American culture, Old Yeller is not merely a boy-and his dog story, but also a dramatic expression of the meaning of adulthood Set in a settlement on the edge of civilization in the Texas frontier, Old Yeller is a novel about a boy named Travis, his family and their day-to-day lives on their farm in the 1860s, a dangerous place with all kinds of perilous forms of nature such as wild boars, wolves, and rattlesnakes, which threaten this family on what must have felt like
When people think of the book or the movie, Old Yeller, it is often thought of as a story about the bond between a boy and his dog, a common theme in many TV shows and books. However, Old Yeller, as it turns out, proves to be much more than that; it is a true coming-of-age story. At 14 years old, Travis Coates lives with his mother and little brother, Arliss, in the hill country of Texas during the 1860s when his father must leave home to work on a cattle drive. He leaves Travis to “act a man’s part” and take care of the family in his absence. While working in a cornfield one day, Travis come across Old Yeller and tries to drive him away, but his younger brother, Arliss likes Old Yeller and Mama thinks he would be good for Arliss. When Old Yeller saves Arliss from a black bear, he wins the affection of the family, especially Travis with whom he forms a strong bond. Later on, Old Yeller contracts rabies when saving Mama and Lisbeth from a pack of wolves. As a precaution, Old Yeller must be put in a pen as a precaution in case he develops any signs of rabies. When Old Yeller begins to show the symptoms of rabies, Travis is forced to make a difficult decision—to tie Old Yeller to die a long painful death, or to shoot him to end his suffering and learns firsthand one of the most difficult virtues of true manhood-- sacrifice.
Keywords: bond, manhood, family, love, sacrifice. While the relationship between a boy and his dog is a persistent theme in children and young adults’ as well as American culture, Old Yeller is not merely a boy-and his dog story, but also a dramatic expression of the meaning of adulthood Set in a settlement on the edge of civilization in the Texas frontier, Old Yeller is a novel about a boy named Travis, his family and their day-to-day lives on their farm in the 1860s, a dangerous place with all kinds of perilous forms of nature such as wild boars, wolves, and rattlesnakes, which threaten this family on what must have felt like
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