Old Yeller Character Analysis

995 Words2 Pages

On a small Kansas farm, during the 1860’s, a stray dog shows up to change the life of a boy. In the novel Old Yeller by Fred Gipson, Travis, a fourteen year old, has to take control of his house while his father is gone. During this time, Old Yeller comes along and eats the family’s food. Travis already has a big responsibility of taking care of the family and now he is forced to deal with this stray dog. Travis comes to realize that Old Yeller is a big help to his family and he begins to love him. Through Travis’s actions of responsibility, maturity, and love; the reader can see how it is important to trust and have faith in others.
In the beginning, Travis’s dad heads to Texas to earn money for his family. Travis has to take on a big responsibility …show more content…

Travis climbs a tree to rope one of the hogs, but the branch snaps right in the middle of the pack. Travis is hurt, but Old Yeller is in worse condition. Travis has to leave him to get help and promises Old Yeller that he will come back to help him. Travis went home with a gash on his leg and his mom refused to let him go back. Travis replied, “Mama, I’m going back after Old Yeller. I promised him I’d come back, and that’s what I aim to do” (128). Mama wouldn’t let Travis go alone and wanted to join him. Travis trusted his mom and let her come with him to try to save Old Yeller. Later in the book Old Yeller saves his family, but Mama can’t fix this problem. Old Yeller gets bitten by a mad wolf with hydrophobia. Mama doesn’t want to take chances with Old Yeller getting sick and knows that something needs to be done. At first Travis doesn’t realize this, but he puts the pieces together and realizes that someone must kill Old Yeller. Travis’s mom offers to kill him, but Travis knows that he has to be the one to kill Old Yeller. Travis said “it was going to kill something inside me to do it, but I knew then that I had to shoot my big yeller dog… I stuck the muzzle of the gun against his head and pulled the trigger” (175). Travis trusted that his mom was right and that Old Yeller will get hydrophobia from the mad wolf. Travis kills Old Yeller because he wants to protect his family and keep them safe. Travis loves Old Yeller and doesn’t want him to suffer from the disease. Travis, as the man of the house, had to be the one to take Old Yeller’s

Open Document