Old Dan And Little Ann Character Analysis

Working together, puzzle pieces create a unique and complete image. Own their own, however, they are nothing more than just a small part of a bigger picture. Old Dan and Little Ann, two dogs from the book Where the Red Fern Grows by Wilson Rawls, are similar to puzzle pieces. They work very well as part of team, but when they are separated, they do not do much. They are also like puzzle pieces in that each is different, yet similar. The two dogs are alike and different in both the way they look and the way they deal with conflict.
One of the ways Old Dan and Little Ann are alike, yet also different, is in the way they look. They are both redbone coonhounds with “needle sharp teeth” (Rawls 23) and long floppy ears. However, that is about where the similarities end. Old Dan is much larger than Little Ann, and his coat is a deeper red. His “face and ears [are] a mass of old scars” (Rawls 176), while Ann is pretty enough that she once won first place in a dog show. Ann is also very small, much smaller than the average hound. Billy mentions when he first sees her that she “must have been a runt in

the litter” (Rawls 44). Even though Little Ann is very small, she makes up for it in smarts. Old Dan's scars show that he is eager to fight. Both these physical characteristics have a link to the dogs' personalities.
Another way that Dan and Ann are both different and similar is in the way they deal with conflict.

Often, when they encounter with a problem, Dan is bold, aggressive, and impulsive while Ann is calm, sensible, and smart, but will also fight when the time is right. A good example of this is when Billy catches his very first coon with a trap. Dan immediately tried “to climb up on the log and get to the coon” (Rawls 62). Once he got to the top, he charged towards the coon, who started clawing and biting at Old Dan. He would have been ripped apart if it weren’t for Little Ann. She "sneaked in from behind and sank her needle sharp teeth into the coon's back" (Rawls 62), making him let go of Old Dan. Without her quick thinking, Dan could have been long dead. As Billy says, "more than one time, it would have been the death of him if it hadn't been for smart Little Ann" (Rawls

104).
Like puzzle pieces, Old Dan and Little Ann work together to be bigger and better than before. They are also different from each other, yet share some of the same characteristics. This can be seen in both their physical traits and their personalities. Overall, both their ability to work together and the fact that their personalities compliment each other help them get an edge over competing dogs.