The Gift Of Deer By Alice Hoover Summary

The Gift of Deer Review

The Gift of Deer is a true story written and published by Alice Hoover in the year 1965. The true account is described through the author’s personal experiences over four years living in a secluded Minnesota forest. The basis of the story revolves around a deer named Peter and the effects he has on Hoover and her husband Ade.

The protagonist of the story is Alice, but the antagonist is seen in many different things. This story begins by dragging out in vivid description the miniscule details of the author’s home and forest that she lives in for a substantial portion of the novel, but the main story does not begin until a deer whom Alice names Peter is found in the woods. He is described when discovered to have a “

gaunt face and pitted fur.” This scene also describes the deer to be extremely skinny with a notched hoof, and further examination by Ade, Alice’s husband determined Peter was blind in his left eye due to a gunshot wound that only wounded the deer and would eventually cause him to starve. A series of thoughts and emotions are relayed to the reader after this event. The couple becomes furious over how someone could be so senseless and ignorant. They wonder if the deer would be better off dead and if they should help his suffering through ending his life, but they decide instead to feed the animal in hopes to nurse him back to health. The first food of choice was cedar due to its significant nutritional value. Jokingly, Ade says after seeing Peter nibble on his meal, “ If he fattens up he’ll be a mighty big pet- around two fifty pounds…” Little did he know, Peter would eventually become a tame deer, nor that his influence would have such an impact on him and his wife. To the surprise of Alice, a few days later, Peter “ tapped on the step with a hoof, ducked his head several times, and waited, tongue tip out.” Ade witnesses this event also,and determines this is the deer’s way to say that he wants more food. Peter was then presented with leftover carrots from a prior meal. This communication continues throughout the story, and Peter is gradually nurtured to an exceptionally healthy state. About midway through Peter’s healing process Alice notices that Peter does not understand how to turn his neck to see things on his left side.

She then teaches him by using her voice and standing on his blind side to urge him to turn and look. This method works and further improves the trust between Peter and Alice. The second of a few conflicts that occur throughout the novel begins with Alice awakening to the sound of what she thought was a human scream. She and her husband rush outside to try and help, and they find a deer trapped on the ice circled by wolves. Alice’s immediate thought that it was Peter, and was filled with panic. A visit from Peter the next day eased her nerves, but revealed to herself how fond she had grown for this animal in a short period of time. Word began to spread about the Hoover’s having a tamed deer, and a poacher decided he would have to take a look for himself. The man was spotted one afternoon by Alice when he thought no one was home. Seeing his 30.-30. rifle, Alice assumed the worst and rushed to make sure Peter would remain unfound. When questioned about what he was doing on their property, the poacher became angry and pointed the rifle at Alice. She then ran inside, grabbed her pistol, and then rushed back to the man telling him to leave immediately. His car had no license plates, so she had no way of

determining his identity. Many other animals begin to regularly visit the couple’s estate, and they are often provided food for them, like Peter. Alice believes one spring that her feeding of squirrels caused such an influx in the species population that they caused many small plants not to grow. She was vigilant not to do this for certain future feedings.
Over the next few years Peter developed a large family, all of whom were named by Alice and Ade.

Each was unique and studied thoroughly by Alice over the few years they were all together. The book ends rather depressingly. During the last portion of the book almost the entire family is killed by hunters or other afflictions after the author does her best to make the reader care for each animal. The worst part is that the book concludes with Peter’s death. The deer who we’ve seen grow up and cared for is deemed to have been killed by a wolf while trying to save one of his grandchildren. The book as a whole was beautifully written and extremely descriptive, but some scenes were dragged on much longer than they needed to be. The author achieved her purpose by describing in great detail the events of the forest through the four years. The author is qualified to inform the reader of these events because of her firsthand experience living in the forest for many years. Although I wish the conclusion of the story was different, I agree with her ending because this was a true

story.
The novel contained deep texts dispersed sporadically that could apply to many different aspects of life. One of my favorites is from page 138, and it says “ People cannot escape by running away, because most difficulties ordinary in living arise from inside-and no one can leave himself behind. Reading this novel was extremely ironic for me because I was deer hunting while doing so. The novel provided me a unique perspective on the deer’s individual lives, and I learned many facts about the animals that I was previously unaware of. I would recommend this book to someone who loves nature and would be interested to learn about the intricate workings of an ecosystem, but this book had very little action and would be boring to a large group of people with thoughts similar to my own.