43 pages • 1 hour read
Big Red
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BetaChapters 9-12Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Chapter 9 Summary: “Trap-Line Pirate”
Danny brings the buck and doe home with the mule’s help. He feels proud of himself for surviving in the woods. He loves the Wintapi and is glad he can survive there with Ross and Red (178). Back at home, Ross congratulates Danny for his hard work.
Danny takes Red to set the traps the next morning. Red can’t help Danny, but he’s “a lot of comfort” (180) throughout the day. Whenever Red gets into trouble, Danny talks to him. Meanwhile, he studies the trees, animals, and sky.
Suddenly, a wolverine bursts out and rushes towards Red and the traps. Danny is terrified, because wolverines are smart and violent. His panic worsens when Red tries to face the wolverine. He wants to control Red but doesn’t know how. Meanwhile, the snow and wind whip up as the sun sets. Danny and Red try to keep on the trail while watching for the wolverine. Finally, Danny finds his and Ross’s hunting shack. Since he lost his ax, he stands poised with a coffee pot in case the wolverine returns.
When the wolverine barges in, Red attacks. Danny intervenes when the wolverine sinks its teeth into Red. The wolverine races away and Danny and Red make their way home. Danny settles Red by the fire. He’s upset that Red got hurt, but thankful Mr. Haggin will still be able to show him again.
Chapter 10 Summary: “Sheilah MacGuire”
Danny and Ross spend the winter hunting, trapping, and snowshoeing. They inspect each of their catches, careful to make sure they don’t kill the animals before their coats are ready.
Then one day, Ross receives a telegram from Mr. Haggin about Danny. The message makes Ross sad. He is afraid that Mr. Haggin is planning Danny’s future for him. Ross wants a good life for Danny and hopes that Mr. Haggin understands his son. Despite his feelings, Ross tells Danny about the telegram when he returns home. He says that Mr. Haggin wants him to meet a Sheilah MacGuire at the train station. Danny realizes that his father thinks Sheilah MacGuire is a young woman with whom Mr. Haggin has set him up. He bursts into laughter and tells Ross that Sheilah MacGuire is the show dog Mr. Haggin bought to breed with Red. Ross is relieved.
Danny leaves early to meet Sheilah MacGuire. On the way, he thinks about the beautiful puppies she and Red will have and gets excited about raising more champion show dogs. Danny collects Sheilah from the station and talks to her the whole way home. She’s different from Red, but Danny is fond of her.
Danny is disappointed that Red seems uninterested in Sheilah when he introduces the dogs. Ross laughs, saying that Red is just jealous. Danny realizes his father is right when Red stalks outside and mopes on the porch. He goes out and talks to Red, but Red ignores him. That night, Danny feels sad because he hasn’t connected with Sheilah yet and Red isn’t himself.
The next day, Danny and Red chase partridges. Danny realizes that Red is trying to prove himself. He pets and affirms Red. Afterwards, Red warms up to Sheilah.
Chapter 11 Summary: “Old Majesty”
The snow melts as spring approaches. The flowers bloom and the trees bud. When the earth warms, Old Majesty emerges from hibernation. He’s hungry after sleeping for so long. He’s not afraid of humans, but knows they’ll be after him.
Old Majesty stalks the woods and meadows in search of food. Finding nothing, he roams up to Mr. Haggin’s estate and tries to get into the barn to kill the horse inside. When Mr. Haggin emerges with a gun, Old Majesty races back into the woods. He knows to fear men with guns. Otherwise, the only creature Old Majesty avoids is Red. Red is the first dog to outwit Old Majesty (221).
Old Majesty feels more comfortable when night falls. He wanders the woods, eventually coming to the Picketts’ cabin. He decides to kill the mule, although it looks thin and sick. As soon as he kills it, Ross and Danny appear. Old Majesty races back into the woods. From his hiding place, he can hear Ross yelling and his hounds barking. Then he emerges and comes face-to-face with Ross and the hounds. He swacks Ross out of his way and attacks the dogs, killing the remaining three.
Ross returns home, sad and hurt. Danny does his best to care for and comfort his father. He calls Mr. Haggin and the doctor because Ross has broken bones. After settling Ross, Danny heads out into the woods after Old Majesty. Ross tells him where he last saw the bear and warns him to be careful. Danny promises that he and Red will get Old Majesty once and for all.
Chapter 12 Summary: “Trophy for Red”
Danny and Red set out into the Wintapi wilderness. Meanwhile, Danny thinks about Old Majesty’s history in the woods. As the bear has been a menace to everyone, Danny thinks it is time for him to die. He fears that the bear has claimed supremacy of the region and will go on to hurt more people if he doesn’t stop him soon. However, Danny also knows that stalking and killing the bear is risky. He doesn’t want anything to happen to Red, and knows he could get hurt, too. Even so, Danny believes this is his fight. He’s confident he’ll win because he has “faith in himself, and [...] in Red” (233).
Danny also wants revenge for Old Majesty’s violence against Ross and the hounds. He’s sad to see the hounds lying dead in the snow. He plans to return and give the dogs a proper burial after he kills Old Majesty.
Danny considers how to find Old Majesty as he and Red wander through the trees and rocks. Danny believes in Red but knows Red isn’t skilled at tracking animals. When Red suddenly stiffens, Danny realizes he’s found Old Majesty. Danny waits for the opportune moment before turning on his light and revealing the giant bear before him. The bear is afraid of Red, but he’s still a fearsome creature. Danny waits patiently with his gun poised.
Suddenly, Old Majesty and Red charge one another. Danny is impressed by Red’s courage, beauty, and strength, but fears for his life as he wrestles with the bear (243). Finally, Danny starts shooting and hits Old Majesty. When the bear falls, Danny and Red study his body. Afterwards, Danny realizes that Red is badly hurt. On the walk home, he understands that Red can’t be a show dog any longer. He’s glad they killed Old Majesty, but afraid of what Mr. Haggin will say.
Danny feels different as he approaches the cabin. He considers the experiences that might have changed him. He also feels different when he recounts what happened to Ross and Mr. Haggin. Mr. Haggin listens and congratulates Danny. He’s sad about Red but insists that killing a bear that has hurt both men and animals was the right thing to do. He tells Danny that Red can still breed, and he and Sheilah will have many more show dogs.
Mr. Haggin leads Danny outside to reveal that Sheilah has already had a litter of new puppies. He tells Danny that he wants to hire him for new and more work. Danny can take on more responsibility and work more closely with the dogs. Danny studies the puppies and imagines the new friends and experiences he’ll have.
Chapters 9-12 Analysis
The narrative compresses time over the course of Chapters 9-12 in order to accelerate the narrative pacing and heighten the narrative tension. Throughout the preceding chapters, Danny’s narrative elapses in day-to-day intervals. One chapter picks up immediately after the preceding chapter ends. Each chapter carefully recounts the details of Danny’s mornings, afternoons, and evenings. By way of contrast, the final four chapters span several months, rather than a few days or weeks.
The narrator conveys these temporal changes by describing the seasonal changes in detail. For example, Chapter 10 begins with the sentence “The winter wore swiftly on, with January bringing its cold and February great, feathery, drifts of snow” (196); and Chapter 11 begins with the lines, “The spring advanced. Melted snow filled every little ditch and depression, and the swollen creeks surged [...] Then green grass showed, flowers bloomed, trees were bud-laden” (215). These seasonal transitions trace both the passage of time and Danny’s Coming of Age and Personal Growth journey. As winter becomes spring and spring becomes summer, Danny continues to grow up and mature. The emerging buds and blooming flowers are symbolic of Danny’s transformation from a young boy into a young man. Therefore, as Danny reaches maturity, the narrative accelerates towards its climax, descending action, and resolution.
The telegram Ross receives about Danny in Chapter 10 indicates Danny’s advancement towards adulthood. The telegram also catalyzes a formal shift. Throughout the novel, the third-person narrator has been limited to Danny’s point of view. In Chapter 10, however, the narrator temporarily abandons Danny’s consciousness and inhabits Ross’s consciousness instead. This formal shift grants access to Ross’s internal world as he considers his son’s rapid maturation after receiving the telegram. The way that Ross interprets it reveals his paternal fear of losing his son: Ross becomes convinced that Sheilah MacGuire is a young woman Mr. Haggin has chosen for Ross to marry. He suddenly feels as if he must give Danny over to Mr. Haggin and his plans for his life. “Danny was different,” Ross thinks, “it was in him to be more than just a trapper” (199). Suddenly, Ross finds himself imagining his son’s adult life and future. The telegram compels him to let go of his child and reconcile himself with Danny’s autonomy and individuality.
The wolverine in Chapter 9 is another narrative device, which foreshadows Danny and Red’s climactic encounter with Old Majesty in Chapter 12. The wolverine challenges Danny and Red to work together against a common, perceived enemy. Since Danny sees the wolverine “as the incarnation of everything evil” (187), he sets his mind to protecting himself and his dog from it. The same is true of Danny and Red’s response to, and battle with, Old Majesty at the end of the novel. The wolverine encounter thus prepares Danny and Red for their near-death encounter with the bear.
Indeed, parallels abound between the two incidents. For example, when Danny and Red meet the wolverine, Danny watches in horror as the wolverine and dog wrestle with one another. When they meet the bear in Chapter 12, Danny also watches Old Majesty and Red race at and fight each other. In Chapter 9, Danny intercedes with a coffee pot, while he intercedes with a gun in Chapter 12. In Chapter 9, Red is injured, but recovers. In Chapter 12, Red is injured and has to end his career as a show dog. The events of Chapter 9 effectively augment the narrative tension and portend the transformative events of Chapter 12.
Conquering Old Majesty ushers Danny into adulthood. The bear is another device which stalks the margins of Danny’s narrative throughout the novel. The hibernating bear promises to return after his initial appearance in Chapter 1. Danny doesn’t live in constant fear of Old Majesty, but he does know that the bear is still at large and thus still poses a threat to his family and animals. The bear is also infamous and legendary. Therefore, fighting the bear is Danny’s rite of passage into manhood and adulthood. This is why he seems “to have changed” (247) as he and Red make their way back to the cabin after killing Old Majesty. Danny sees his home as a different place, although he is the one who has undergone the transformation. His interactions with Ross and Mr. Haggin in the chapter’s closing scenes convey his ultimate maturation and growth. Instead of cowering, Danny articulates his experiences without trepidation. He also begins to imagine the future after seeing Sheilah’s new puppies, who symbolize hope, renewal, and new life.
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