Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Old Yeller, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
People and Animals
Masculinity and Emotion
Bravery vs. Fear
Coming of Age and Responsibility
Summary
Analysis
Travis Coates looks back on when he took care of a dog, whom he called Old Yeller, during his boyhood. Old Yeller’s name, he explains, always had a double meaning: not only was the dog yellow, which Travis and his Texan family pronounced “yeller,” but Old Yeller’s bays sounded closer to a person’s yell than a dog’s bark. Travis recalls how, when Old Yeller first strayed onto his family’s property, he longed to kill him. But later, when Travis actually had to kill Old Yeller, it was like shooting a member of his family.
This passage introduces Travis’s intense relationship with his dog Old Yeller. Old Yeller has taught Travis that the line between the world of people and the world of animals is not so distinct after all, and idea that Gipson symbolizes through Old Yeller’s humanlike bark. Travis himself admits that harming Old Yeller was as emotionally painful for him as harming a person, further illustrating how loving Old Yeller taught him to see animals as complex, self-determined creatures.
Themes
The book flashes back to the late 1860s in the Texas Hill Country community of Salt Licks. Travis is 14 years old, and his father, whom he calls Papa, is heading out on a cattle drive to Abilene, Kansas in order to make some money. Funds are tight for everyone in Travis’s community in the aftermath of the long and bloody Civil War. Abilene is far away, and the drive will take months to complete, but Papa and several other Salt Licks men are desperate for cash. On the day Papa leaves, Travis wants to act like a “grown man,” so he’s determined not to cry—even as his five-year-old brother, Little Arliss, howls with sadness.
As Travis’s father prepares to go off on a long cattle drive, Travis has already begun to steel himself against emotion, believing that’s the only way to prove that he’s mature and worthy of his father’s responsibilities. At this point in his youth, Travis conception of masculinity is perhaps overly simplistic: he thinks acting like a “grown man” is as straightforward as holding back tears when he’s upset.
Themes
After Papa says goodbye to Mama and Little Arliss, Travis walks him to his horse. Papa tells Travis that he expects him to act like “the man of the family” in his absence. Travis will need to take care of Mama and Little Arliss, cut wood, milk cows, and tag hogs. He’ll also have to keep an eye on the corn patch, so that no varmints eat up the valuable bread and corn stocks that the family is saving for winter. Before Papa leaves, Travis asks Papa if he can have a horse. Papa says that what Travis really needs is a good dog—but that if Travis is good while Papa is away, Papa will get him a “man’s horse to ride.” Papa and Travis shake hands. Travis feels very manly, and he becomes fully determined to handle everything that needs to be done while Papa is gone.
This passage continues to explore how Travis thinks about what it means to be a grown man. Travis feels that stoicism, bravery, and responsibility are all key aspects of masculinity—and Papa feeds into this by promising to reward Travis with a “man’s horse” that will commemorate his son’s manhood. Travis feels a lot of pressure to behave a certain way in order to prove to his father—and to himself—that he’s is man enough.
Themes
As Travis walks back up to the cabin alone, he begins to wish that he had a dog. The rural area where he and his family live is dangerous: wild wolves, bears, and panthers are regularly on the prowl; American Indians often raid Hill Country homes. Travis used to have a good dog named Bell, but several years ago, Bell died when a freshly severed rattlesnake head bit Bell on the nose. Travis cried for a week when Bell died, and although Papa offered to get Travis a new dog, Travis couldn’t bear the thought of replacing Bell.
This passage, in which Travis recalls watching his childhood dog Bell die after being attacked by a severed rattlesnake head, symbolizes the natural world’s unpredictability and danger. Although a decapitated snake might seem powerless and unable to do anymore harm, the head was still animated when Bell sniffed at it. This illustrates the idea that, while people and animals are certainly connected, the wilderness doesn’t follow the same rules that human civilization does.
Themes
Get the entire Old Yeller LitChart as a printable PDF.
As Travis reaches home, he spies Little Arliss playing naked in the family’s watering hole, where they get their drinking water. Travis yells for Arliss to get out of the water, but Arliss refuses to obey him. But then, Travis cuts a switch off a tree and approaches Arliss, so Arliss hurries out of the water and runs for the house. Mama, hearing the commotion, comes outside and asks what’s going on. Travis, using Papa’s trademark language, says he's going to “wear [Arliss] to a frazzle.” Mama smiles and urges Arliss to listen to his older brother. She sends Arliss to sit alone in the abandoned dog run, where the family sometimes hangs freshly hunted meat to dry. Arliss sulks as Travis starts his chores.
Right after Papa’s departure, Travis is already determined to establish his new role as the man of the house. Travis replicates his Papa’s words and actions in this scene as he attempts to establish dominance over Little Arliss and quash any challenge to his own newfound authority. This passage shows that Travis conceives of masculinity as the ability to stoically control and command others—he doesn’t yet have a fuller, deeper idea of what it means to be a man.
Themes
That day, after the lunch, Travis hurries out to finish planting corn. He hooks the family’s mule, Jumper, to the plow and gets to work; he wants to finish by sundown. Jumper is an agile and friendly mule who can, as his name suggests, jump over almost anything—but sometimes, he’s stubborn and lazy. This afternoon, when Jumper characteristically stops suddenly in the middle of plowing, Travis hits Jumper with a switch, and Jumper immediately starts walking again. Back up at the house, Travis finds that Mama and Little Arliss have waited for him to come home before starting to eat supper—just as they always do for Papa.
Travis’s determination to do well in his new role as the man of the house means that he tries to embody an emotionally stunted version of masculinity. But there’s a positive side to his determination as well: Travis graciously and enthusiastically takes on a new set of responsibilities and creatively solves the problems in front of him. And as Travis takes on more and more responsibilities throughout the novel, he’ll find that the things required of him increasingly depend on empathy, emotion, and creativity—not on stoicism, strength, and power.
Themes
That night, as Travis crawls into bed, he is tired but satisfied with his hard work. He’s taught Little Arliss and Jumper that he’s not to be messed with, and he’s shown Mama that he’s “man enough to wait supper on.” Travis falls asleep happily, confident that he will be able to handle any problem that arises in Papa’s absence.
Travis is determined to make good on his promises to Papa, and he’s proud that he’s proven himself to be “man enough”—he’s excited about his new responsibilities rather than annoyed. This suggests that, even though Travis has a lot to learn about what it means to be a man, his transformative coming-of-age journey is underway.
Themes
