Where the red fern grows by Wilson Rawls - Essay Example

13 June Assignment ‘Where The Red Fern Grows’ is a story of two dogs and a boy, written by Wilson Rawls. This book has mainly been written as a moralistic novel for young children. It holds a great amount of significance as it helps to teach young children about the kind of relationships they may develop with the people and animals around them. The story is about Old Dan and Little Ann, two coonhounds bought by Billy when they were tiny puppies, how the three grow up together and help each other out on the path of life; and the life that the dogs and Billy lived with each other, and how they were always on the lookout for one another.

Finally, when Old Dan dies due to injuries and Little Ann due to the grief, Billy has a revelation as he learns the true meaning of life. This paper helps to give an insight, through various examples from the book, of how Billy tried to persevere and train his dogs, and in the process, how he matured as a person himself. Thus, it helps to portray how a person must learn to accept suffering and make sacrifices before he is truly mature.  In the beginning, when Billy was a young boy, he wanted two coonhounds so badly, that he was willing to spend a good amount of time working to earn enough money in order to be able to buy them.

Through a number of odd jobs, Billy is able to earn $50 to suffice him for the puppies. With this example, one can easily see that hard work and perseverance paid off as Billy sacrificed his time to work and earn so he could finally buy them. Furthermore, one can witness Billy working hard to train the puppies, along with his grandfather, as he taught the dogs all about racoon hunting so that they could kill enough racoons to make the family business of selling racoon fur grow and develop. During this time, Billy began forming a very special bond with the dogs as they listened to him and began working hard as well.

Soon enough, Billy was bringing in a lot of fur in the family because of the hard work that he and his dogs had put in to the work. All these aspects made him very mature and helped him grow up a great deal because it taught him responsibility and helped him develop a sense of determination. In the end, when both the dogs died, Billy was heartbroken because they meant everything to him. He was not able to fathom the fact that they died trying to catch the last prized raccoon for him. As he buried the dogs next to each other, he saw a red fern growing next to their graves.

This gave him the indication that the area was sacred and that an angel had planted it there. Through this, he was able to move on knowing that his dogs had gone to a better place and would be happy wherever they are because they were truly angelic and meant more to him than anything or anyone else. He was able to overcome his grief and move on to the town from the farm knowing that their souls were resting in peace. Through these various examples, Billy showed signs of maturity as he grew up with the dogs.

He understood responsibility and cared for the dogs as if they were his own children. Even though he was a young man himself, he worked hard trying to train his dogs and make sure they were the best so that he could bring in the family dough. All these events helped him master his own strengths and emerge victorious with respect to emotions and feelings that he shared with his dogs, in the end, even after their death. Works Cited Rawls, Wilson. Where the Red Fern Grows; the Story of Two Dogs and a Boy.

 Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1961. Print.