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
In the days that follow, Travis is pleasantly surprised and even impressed by what a big help Lisbeth is. Just like Travis, she’s ready for any task at any time—no job is too big or too small for her. Travis watches wistfully as Lisbeth, Little Arliss, and Mama work together to harvest corn. He’s is sad that he can’t help, and his pride is wounded just a bit by the fact that a girl has assumed all the duties that normally belong to the man of the house.
One evening, however, a problem not even Lisbeth can handle arises out of nowhere. Travis is still laid up in bed—the swelling in his leg has gone down, but he’s still weak and tired all the time after weeks of fever. He hears a cow coming toward the house, lowing as it does, and he recognizes the moos as belonging to Spot. Mama goes out to wrangle Spot back into her pen—but soon, Travis hears Spot bellowing and Mama screaming. Mama runs into the cabin and tells everyone that Spot tried to charge at her—almost as if she didn’t recognize Mama at all. What’s more, Spot walked right past her own calf like she didn’t even see it. Travis wonders aloud if cows can get hydrophobia. Everyone is silent.
It becomes clear to Travis and the rest of his family that their beloved Spot has come down with hydrophobia, which introduces a new dynamic to the physical and emotional overlap between people and animals. Spot’s condition isn’t just distressing because she’s ill—it’s frightening because hydrophobia can affect people as well as animals. Spot’s illness is an immediate reminder of how fragile the boundary between people and animals truly is.
Themes
Over the next few days, Spot’s condition worsens. She walks around in wide, confused circles, lowing and staggering. Two or three days later, the roan bull Mama nicknamed Roany appears on the ranch—he, too, is staggering, reeling, and moaning. When Old Yeller smells the bull, growls. Watching Old Yeller’s reaction, Travis feels his hair stand on end. He realizes now, without a doubt, that both Roany and Spot have hydrophobia—Old Yeller can sense it in both of them.
Roany’s arrival makes it undeniable to Travis and the others that the hydrophobia plague isn’t going away anytime soon. Old Yeller’s violent reaction to scenting the disease shows just how deeply both people and animals fear it.
Themes
Knowing what he must do, Travis asks for Mama to bring him his gun. He can see from the window that Roany is headed right for Lisbeth and Little Arliss, who are out in the yard. Mama goes outside to call them in—but then, the bull begins charging at Mama. Unwilling to wait another second, Travis gets up on his unsteady legs, fetches his gun, goes outside, and shoots the staggering roan bull between the eyes.
Travis puts aside his intense fear of hydrophobia and takes decisive action to save his family. He takes decisive control of a dangerous situation, reclaiming his role as the man of the house and proving his ability to conquer his fears and act responsibly in a crisis. This incident also foreshadows how Travis will have to steel himself against hydrophobia as the plague worsens in the weeks to come.
Themes
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