Billy's Dogs example essay topic
Some themes that will be encountered in this novel are the passage from youth to maturity, the rewards of hard work and diligence, and working together to achieve common goals. All of these themes and more can be found in the novel Where the Red Fern Grows. One theme illustrated in this novel was the passage from youth to maturity. An example of this is when Billy stopped asking for two hounds and saved up enough money to get them himself.
He sold items to fisherman at very low prices but he was determined and would also take any offer they would give him. Another example shown is when Billy bought everyone something from Tahlequah with his own money. A normal child would but himself lots of candy and seldom share it but Billy didn't. He bought his mom cloth, his dad overalls, and his sister's candy. This example greatly showed the passage from youth to maturity. Another example depicted was when Billy made a promise to his dogs that the first coon they treed he would skin so when his hounds put a coon up the biggest tree in the forest, Billy didn't walk away from the fact that it was very tall and started chopping the tree down and didn't give up until the coon was skinned unlike a child who would have no patience and be careless.
One last example is when Billy took the death of his dogs like a man and buried them in the nicest spot in the Ozark Mountain Ranges. He cared very much about his hounds and wanted them to have a very comfortable and happy afterlife unlike many others which would have just thrown the hounds off a cliff or do something unpleasant to them. Billy's dogs really helped him to mature in ways unthinkable. Another theme expatiated in this novel was the rewards of hard work and diligence. One example shown was when Billy worked and worked for two whole years selling accessories to fisherman. After two years he finally saved up enough money to buy his hounds, which was an excellent reward for hard work.
An additional example is when Billy took a long, hard, and hot journey barefoot alone to Tahlequah. He faces bullies and is afraid to turn every corner knowing something unknown will be lurking behind the walls but in the end, he received his hounds and was very happy for what he accomplished but for the most part he was happy that he got his hounds. Another example explained in the novel was when Billy got his hounds and he trained the and taught them all of the tricks he knew. After hard training his hounds (Old Dan and Little Ann) became the finest hounds in the Ozark mountain ranges. They went hunting every night and skinned many coons. One more example is when Little Ann got trapped in the icy river and Billy and Old Dan worked to get Little Ann out but all of that work was worth the life of Little Ann.
Finally, after all the hard work put into his hounds, Billy's grandfather came to him with an invitation to a coon-hunting tournament. Billy was full of zest when he knew he was going to go to a coon-hunting tournament. He proved he had the finest hounds by working hard and believing in himself and his hounds. Billy and his dogs worked hard and they went through some tough times but it was all worth for what came in return. One last theme depicted in the novel was the need to work together to achieve common goals. An example of this theme is when Billy's dogs treed their first coon in a big tree in which Billy couldn't climb.
He was determined and needed to skin that coon, so he started chopping down the tree. When Billy was sweating and though he almost couldn't go on, his grandfather arrived and came up with an idea to make a scarecrow and keep the coon in the tree so Billy could get some sleep. Another example shown was when Billy's grandfather got lost in the blizzard and Billy used his dogs to find his grandpa and give him medical attention. One last theme expatiated was when the two hounds were in an all out brawl with a leopard that pounced from a tree. If it wasn't when Billy, Old Dan, and Little Ann worked together, someone could have been brutally ripped apart or even maybe everyone could have died at that very moment in the dark and lonely mountain ranges of the Ozark Mountains. So even though good happenings were on there way to Billy, hardships were right behind and if it wasn't for working together, none of the happiness, joy, and / or jubilance would have occurred.
In conclusion, Where the Red Fern Grows by Wilson Rawls was a jubilant yet at the same time melancholy tale about a boys adventures with two hounds. When Billy received his hounds, his whole life changed. He had he best two dogs in the Ozarks and he proved it at the coon-hunting tournament. Nothing mattered anymore. Old Dan and Little Ann opened the door to Billy and Billy walked through it with no fear. Then, suddenly, when everything was going fine, something tragic occurred and all of Billy's dreams were thrown away at an instant.
All of this and more could be found in the loving tale of Where the Red Fern Grows..