People and Animals
Old Yeller explores how the world of animals and the world of people overlap. Travis Coates and his beloved dog, Old Yeller, have an intense bond—and their connection suggests that while many people see the animal world as separate from their own, that could not be further from the truth. People and animals, the novel suggests, are deeply interconnected.
Old Yeller’s sudden arrival into the Coates family illustrates how, even though people consider themselves…
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Masculinity and Emotion
At the beginning of Old Yeller, Travis Coates’s father leaves his family at their rural Texas homestead and goes off on a cattle drive to Kansas, hoping to make some money. As Papa departs, he urges Travis to “act like [a man]” in his absence. At only 14, Travis accepts his father’s challenge with grit—even as he holds back tears watching his father leave. Travis’s struggle to stand in as the man of…
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Bravery vs. Fear
In Old Yeller, 14-year-old Travis is left alone with his mother and younger brother to be the man of the house, while his father, whom he calls Papa, heads off on a cattle drive. With Papa gone, Travis must continuously reckon with his fears. As Travis hunts deer, breaks up bull fights, tags wild hogs, and confronts an epidemic of hydrophobia throughout the Texas Hill Country, he must constantly choose between surrendering to…
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Coming of Age and Responsibility
Old Yeller is a classic coming-of-age novel: it tells the story of a young boy realizing what it takes to come into one’s own and emerge from youth as a mature, well-rounded individual. Each coming-of-age tale prioritizes different aspects of adult behavior as the true marker of maturity. Within the world of Old Yeller, responsibility, and the capacity to selflessly shoulder others’ burdens, are what define adulthood.
Travis’s coming-of-age journey begins when Papa…
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