[Many spoilers ahead for this book.]
There were a couple of reasons I wanted to read this book. Firstly, it is considered to be a classic. I like to tick those off whenever I can. The second reason was because of the Disney film which came out one year after the book's publishing. I saw it as a young child, and even though I remembered very little about it, the idea of it always got stuck in my head. I just wanted to settle the story once and for all.
The story mainly deals with life in post Civil war Texas. The family was all on their own in the middle of nowhere, and the father had left them to go make money elsewhere. This puts the eldest son, named Travis, in charge of the whole place. And yes, there was a dog named Old Yeller, but I'm serious when I say that the bulk of the story is more about Travis than the dog.
The book mainly dealt with what life in this place and time was like, and it does a flawless job explaining it. But towards the end of the book, it begins to drift into the realm of a horror story. When a rabies plague breaks out in the area, animals start roaming about like zombies and attacking people with no reason. It scares the family and causes them to take some very serious actions to deal with it. The atmosphere of this part of the book is very severe and startling. And yes, Old Yeller famously contracts it too, but I have something I want to say about that in a minute.
"Old Yeller" does not shy away from the gory details of life in that period. There are quite a few scenes with blood and extreme bodily harm happening to both animals and humans. I don't mind that it's there, but I just think parents need to know what is being depicted in their children's book. The book does respect the person it's talking to without patronizing them. It treats the reader as maturely as Travis in the book, giving them a similar responsibility. I find that to be a very interesting way to deal with difficult topics in a children's book.
As for Old Yeller's infamous euthanasia scene at the end, I believe I remember they tied him up at the end of the Disney movie and waited to see if he changed. This led to the dog going mad, forcing the boy to grit his teeth and shoot. In the book, the boy suggests tying him up, but ultimately just calls him over and shoots him "just in case" he contracted it from a fight he had with an infected wolf. It was done quickly and in cold blood. The book makes more sense realistically, but it is harsher. I also want to point out that, in the movie, the shooting of the dog felt more like a surprise, but in the second paragraph of the entire book, the narrator, who is actually Travis, spoils that he will kill him later on.
I know this blog was full of spoilers, but there was still a lot of stuff I didn't mention. By now, most people know what happened to Old Yeller. It has sort of become a cultural bullet point. I do recommend "Old Yeller" to anyone who may be interested in what life in those times was like. It's more a story about that then the dog you might see staring at you on the cover. I quite enjoyed it, and I don't think it's too much for a child to read as long as their parents allow it.
This blog was written on December 24, 2022.
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The book's version of the killing of Old Yeller is less dramatic, but dramatically so. Travis grew up on the frontier. His every day was uncertain. Children who grow up safe in the suburbs would not relate to his grim decision. Disney was wise to make the changes it did. Disney left no doubt about what needed to be done. Still, the willingness of a boy to make a hard decision was shown PERFECTLY in the novel.
ReplyDeleteYes, the book is more about life in that period than the dog. In fact, the dog is kind of a red herring. It draws you in, but then you find a very serious story that's wholly related to the dog. I liked it!
DeleteWhen I saw the movie as a kid my takeaway was that the world is dangerous and harsh and that part of growing up was having to deal with the truth. The boy made a decision and took responsibility for something he had no control of, he didn't leave the task to his Mom. In doing so the boy became a man.
ReplyDeleteA coming of age story! That's pretty much this story in a nutshell. Interestingly, his reward for becoming a man was that he got his own horse.
DeleteIt is important to be honest when dealing with children. Hydrophobia is a terrible condition which affects animals in a different way than it does humans. It makes the former dangerous to the latter, and may require the animal to be killed.
ReplyDeleteOh, yes. I agree that books should be honest to children, but I also take into account that parents should decide what content to show their kids.
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