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
Little Arliss is a nature-lover: he’s obsessed with trying to catch and keep creatures and insects, large and small. Each night, when Arliss comes in from playing, Mama makes him empty his pockets—often, Arliss pulls out worms, lizards, grasshoppers, frogs, and even venomous snakes. Since Old Yeller’s arrival, Arliss has, with the help of the dog, started capturing and bringing home even bigger game, like rabbits and possums.
One day, Travis watches as Old Yeller catches a fish out of the creek and brings it to Little Arliss. Little Arliss brings the fish inside, even though the fish’s scales cut up his hands. Mama bandages Arliss’s wounds and cooks the fish up for dinner. Throughout the meal, Little Arliss brags about how he caught the fish with his bare hands. Travis tries to call Little Arliss out for lying, but Mama hushes Travis and urges him to let his brother tell his story—Travis himself, she says, used to tell some “whoppers” when he was little, too.
Travis knows that Little Arliss’s obsession with capturing animals is potentially dangerous—but his attempt here to shame or bully his brother out of his obsession fails. Arliss will have to learn the frightening lesson about the overlap between people and animals on his own.
Themes
A couple of days later, Travis is down at the creek splitting rails to fix up the yard fence that the bulls tore down. The work is hard, but Travis is determined to finish the job he started. Near sundown, he hears Little Arliss scream—though Little Arliss is loud by nature, Travis can sense the fear in his brother’s shout. Then, Travis hears something that truly terrifies him: the roar of a bear. He immediately takes off in the direction of Arliss’s screams.
Travis has been worried about Arliss’s reckless approach to trapping and catching wild animals—now, as he hears Arliss’s screams, he knows that something has gone wrong. He summons the bravery to throw himself headlong into whatever Arliss is facing.
Themes
When Travis arrives at the spring where Arliss likes to play, he finds Arliss holding onto a bear cub—and he sees the bear cub’s mama rushing out of the woods right toward them. Travis knows he won’t make it to Arliss in time. All he can do is watch, paralyzed with fear. Just as the mama bear approaches Arliss, however, a “flash of yellow” comes speeding out of the brush—Old Yeller collides with the bear, grabs onto her throat, and doesn’t let go.
Arliss has gotten himself into trouble with a fearsome mama bear. He presumably wanted to catch the baby bear, having learned from his previous outdoor adventures that any animal could be captured and kept—but now, he’s in over his head as he faces immediate danger.
Themes
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Travis runs over to Little Arliss and forces him away from the cub. He picks his brother up and runs with him toward Mama, who has come out of the cabin at all the commotion. Travis is prepared to turn around and strike at the mama bear with his axe, but Old Yeller has the bear distracted. Travis hurries the house. Then, Old Yeller releases the bear and follows him. They all take shelter in the cabin. Little Arliss is trembling, and Mama is crying, while Travis is still paralyzed with fear. Old Yeller licks all three of their faces until they calm down.
Though Travis helps save Arliss from the bear, it’s Old Yeller who successfully puts the mama bear off—and it’s Old Yeller who comforts the Coates family in the aftermath of the terrifying incident. This illustrates how Old Yeller is helping the Coates family better understand the emotional and practical overlap between the human world and the animal world.
Themes
