My Side of the Mountain

“As I lay with my face buried in the sweet greasy smell of my deerskin, I could hear Dad’s voice saying, ‘That land is still in the family’s name. Somewhere in the Catskills is an old beech with the name Gribley carved on it. It marks the northern boundary of Gribley’s folly—the land is no place for a Gribley.’” 

This passage helps characterize Sam Gribley as someone who wishes to act and think independently. At the same time, this scene advances the plot by highlighting Sam’s motivation for running away to the Gribley farm. We can infer this idea from the fact that Sam still remembers and thinks about his dad’s warning about the Gribley farm being a folly many months later.

“‘Sam Gribley, if you are going to run off and live in the woods, you better learn how to make a fire. Come with me.’ We spent the afternoon practicing. I penciled these notes on the back of a scrap of paper, so I wouldn’t forget.” 

In Chapter 2 an older man named Bill teaches Sam how to make a fire, which Sam failed to do the night before. This moment contributes to both the plot and Sam’s character development because it teaches Sam the lesson that he can’t learn survival skills by merely reading books. Sam benefits immensely from someone like Bill showing him how to build a fire in person. Interestingly enough, later in the story, Sam finds himself teaching others the survival skills he’s learned, a cycle that further emphasizes the message that experience matters in the wild.

“I knew how to make fire, and that was my weapon. With fire I could conquer the Catskills. I also knew how to fish. To fish and to make fire. That was all I needed to know, I thought.” 

By knowing how to make fire, Sam unlocks an essential survivalist skill that will allow him to stay warm and well fed. However, the end of Sam’s thought here suggests to the reader that Sam still has much more to learn and figure out about surviving the wild. Shortly after this scene takes place, Sam realizes that he’s neglected shelter to protect himself from the elements.

“I must say this now about that first fire. It was magic. Out of dead tinder and grass and sticks came a live warm light. It cracked and snapped and smoked and filled the woods with brightness. It lighted the trees and made them warm and friendly.” 

Though building a fire obviously allows Sam to cook and eat fish, this passage demonstrates how fire means even more to Sam’s survival. The fire provides warmth and light, which in a magical way for Sam turns the wild environment into a friendly, lively place. In this sense, the author is using fire to symbolize life.

“I ate a flower. It was not very good. One manual I had read said to watch what the birds and animals were eating in order to learn what is edible and nonedible in the forest. If the animal life can eat it, it is safe for humans. The book did suggest that a raccoon had tastes more nearly like ours. Certainly the birds were no example.” 

This is another instance in which Sam must learn from experience rather than rely solely on books. A manual suggests that Sam should watch what birds eat to influence what he eats, but doing so leads to a somewhat humorous moment in which Sam eats something off a tree that tastes gross. Although this advice seems reasonable, this passage further exemplifies how Sam’s growth as a survivalist must come from experiencing and from trial and error.

“You know, those first days, I just never planned right. I had the beginning of a home, but not a bite to eat, and I had worked so hard that I could hardly move forward to find that bite.”

One of Sam’s early mistakes is failing to think or plan ahead before acting. He comes to this realization while using an ax to hack away at the base of a hemlock tree, trying to hollow it out to make a home. This method leaves Sam with no energy for other tasks, like finding food. That said, Sam improves throughout the story in his ability to develop smarter survival plans. He works smarter, not harder. This change of approach unfolds in the scene following this quotation when Sam decides to use fire to hollow out his tree house instead.

“At the edge of the meadow, I sensed all was not well at camp. How I knew there was a human being there was not clear to me then. I can only say that after living so long with the birds and animals, the movement of a human is like the difference between the explosion of a cap pistol and a cannon.” 

In Chapter 8, Sam successfully hides from a forester who arrives and investigates Sam’s camp for a few days. Part of the reason Sam avoids danger in this scene is because he develops some animal-like instincts—he hears the forester before seeing him. This moment points to Sam’s character growth as over time he becomes more comfortable and natural at surviving in the wild. This passage is also important because of the way the author uses figurative language to characterize Sam’s ability. The author uses the quiet shot of a pistol and the loud booming sound of a cannon as a point of comparison to point out how easily Sam can now sense another human’s presence.

“Presently, down he climbed, as stately as royalty, and off he marched, never looking back. He sank beneath the leaves like a fish beneath the water. Not a stem rippled to make his way. And so The Baron and I met for the first time, and it was the beginning of a harassing but wonderful friendship.” 

Although the author generally writes in a realistic way, at times Sam describes animals with human-like qualities. This passage specifically is an example of personification, with Sam comparing the Baron Weasel’s movements (his “marching”) to royal figures. It is clear through this metaphor that The Baron is not only unafraid of Sam but is in fact a quite confident creature. In terms of the plot, this passage effectively demonstrates Sam growing closer to nature.

“Nearby another one arose and there was a pop. Little bubbles of air snapped as these voiceless animals of the earth came to the surface. That got me smiling. I was glad to know this about earthworms. I don’t know why, but this seemed like one of the nicest things I had learned in the woods—that earthworms, lowly, confined to the darkness of the earth, could make just a little stir in the world.” 

This brief scene is another example of Sam’s growing understanding of nature. Sam finds meaning in seeing these earthworms pop out of the ground because he realizes that even an animal, like an earthworm, that lives beneath the ground’s surface plays a role in the world. These earthworms are perhaps metaphorical for Sam, as he, too, wants to feel like he’s making a stir in the world. Two chapters later Sam leaves the hole of his tree house and allows himself to be seen by Bando.

“One day at breakfast I whistled for Frightful. I had no food, she wasn’t even hungry, but she came to me anyway. I was thrilled. She had learned a whistle meant ‘come.’ I looked into her steely eyes that morning and thought I saw a gentle recognition. She puffed up her feathers as she sat on my hand. I call this a ‘feather word.’ It means she is content.” 

Initially Sam captures Frightful with the goal of training her to hunt food for him. However, this passage demonstrates a key shift in their relationship. Sam and Frightful communicate without the incentive of food, which means their relationship has transformed into a friendship. Throughout the rest of the story, Sam and Frightful grow closer, and so, too, does their ability to communicate grow.

“How I wanted to hear his voice, to tell him about The Baron and Jessie C. James, to say words out loud. I really did not want to hide from him; besides, he might be hungry, I thought. Finally I spoke.”

After spending most of the summer living among animals and hiding from humans, in Chapter 12 Sam purposefully seeks out a friend in Bando. This passage is key to the plot because Sam risks being caught and risks meeting a potential criminal to bring humans into his life again. This passage also demonstrates a slight shift in Sam’s desire for solitude and independence. Part of the reason Sam ran away from home was because he lived in a stuffy apartment with 11 family members. However, at this point in the story, Sam yearns to share his mountain community with another person.

“‘Bird,’ I said. ‘I had almost forgotten how we used to talk.’ She made tiny movements with her beak and fluffed her feathers. This was a language I had forgotten since Bando came. It meant she was glad to see me and hear me, that she was well fed, and content.” 

Sam enjoys his time spent with Bando so much that by the end of Chapter 12, he realizes how much he’s neglected Frightful—so much so that Sam refers to her in this passage as “bird” instead of by her name. This passage emphasizes how different Sam’s relationship with Frightful (or other animals) is from his relationships with people.

“Frightful was not absolutely necessary for my survival; but I was now so fond of her. She was more than a bird. I knew I must have her back to talk to and play with if I was going to make it through winter.” 

Sam panics momentarily in Chapter 13 when Frightful does not return to the sound of him whistling. Although Sam can hunt and provide food for himself, he has come to view Frightful like a family member in the wild. Having Frightful around is essential for his survival through winter because Sam knows that no humans will be around. Where in the previous chapter Sam neglects his relationship with Frightful in favor of spending time with Bando, in this chapter Sam remembers why Frightful means so much to him.

“I had learned something that night from that very raccoon bossing Jessie C. James—to animals, might is right. I was biggest and I was oldest, and I was going to tell them so. I growled and snarled and hissed and snorted. It worked. They understood and moved away. […] Never had there been a more real Halloween night.” 

When wild animals invade Sam’s Halloween party and cause things to get out of hand, Sam shoos them away by taking on the role of the biggest and toughest animal of them all. This is another example of Sam connecting to nature while, in the process, learning not to trust all wild animals. This is also one of the more suspenseful scenes in the story, which really embodies the fright one might associate with Halloween, and which in all likelihood differs from Sam’s childhood experiences of trick-or-treating.

“Hunters are excellent friends if used correctly. Don’t let them see you; but follow them closely. Preferably use the tops of trees for this purpose, for hunters don’t look up. They look down and to the right and left and straight ahead. So if you stay in the trees, you can not only see what they shoot, but where it falls, and if you are extremely careful, you can sometimes get to it before they do and hide it. That’s how I got my third deer.” 

Sam writes a journal entry in this passage that describes the shrewd method he uses to catch deer. This journal entry provides insight into how Sam adapts to his surroundings and also how he works smarter rather than harder to survive. The way Sam explains his well-thought-out plan to catch deer perfectly characterizes Sam’s maturity by this point in the book.

“One night I read some of my old notes about how to pile wood so I could get to it under the snow, and I laughed until Frightful awoke. I hadn’t made a single tunnel. I walked on the snow to get wood like The Baron Weasel went for food or the deer went for moss.” 

At the start of Chapter 17, as the first snowstorm approaches, Sam devises a plan to position stacks of firewood so that he can tunnel through the snow to get to each pile. However, at the end of the chapter, Sam realizes that he’s never once needed this method. This marks a development in the plot as Sam realizes that surviving in a snowy winter will perhaps not be as bad as he imagined.

“I did not become lonely. Many times during the summer I had thought of the ‘long winter months ahead’ with some fear. I had read so much about the loneliness of the farmer, the trapper, and the woodsman during the bleakness of winter that I had come to believe it.” 

Once again Sam’s expectations for a harsh winter don’t perfectly match reality. For months leading up to winter, he fears how lonely he will be, thinking there will be no way of even leaving his tree house. Sam can and does leave his house, though, exploring the mountains in winter with the same excitement he does during the other seasons.

“Spring was coming to the land! My heart beat faster. I think I was trembling. The valley also blurred. The only thing that can do that is tears, so I guess I was crying.” 

In Chapter 19 Sam begins noticing the first signs of spring, which also mean the end of winter. Surviving winter is such a momentous occasion for Sam that it drives him to tearful emotions. In terms of the story’s plot, the end of winter gives way to the falling action. Sam’s biggest conflicts have been overcome and are now in the past.

“And so with the disappearance of the deer, the hoot of the owl, the cold land began to create new life. Spring is terribly exciting when you are living right in it. I was hungry for green vegetables, and that night as I went off to sleep, I thought of the pokeweeds, the dandelions, the spring beauties that would soon be pressing up from earth.” 

Spring is an exciting time for Sam, as he begins seeing deer foraging again. Sam also sees other animals, such as the horned owl, laying eggs and making noises. This passage shows how the author uses spring as a symbol for new life. In the natural cycle of things, spring is when many animals lay eggs or give birth. The flowers and other greenery also sprout out of the thawed ground to signify their new life.

“I thought she wanted to be free and seek a mate, but I could not let her. I still depended upon her talents and company. Furthermore, she was different, and if I did let her go, she probably would have been killed by another female, for Frightful had no territory other than the hemlock patch, and her hunting instincts had been trained for man. She was a captive, not a wild bird, and that is almost another kind of bird.” 

This passage from Chapter 20 contributes to the characterization of Sam’s falcon, Frightful. As she grows up throughout the story, it becomes apparent that Sam domesticates Frightful. In other words, Frightful is no longer a wild creature or a “wild bird” as it’s described from this quotation. In fact, by the end Sam no longer relies on Frightful for hunting purposes either; instead, Sam comes to rely on Frightful more as a companion.

“Then I thought of the words Frightful had spoken in my head. ‘You want to be found,’ and I began to wonder. I had sought out a human being. This would not have happened a year ago.” 

At this point in the story we see a clear shift in Sam, who at the beginning of his journey seeks solitude and thus hides from other humans so that they do not bring him back home. Now, though, Sam actually seeks out friendship in some of the people who venture near his camp. From this particular passage, we see Sam finally listening to one of the voices in his head trying to tell him that he wants to be found. To that end, Sam is inching closer toward wanting to be a part of a society, or community, again.

“Bando got a car and he came up more often. He never mentioned any more newspaper stories, and I never asked him. I just said to him one day, ‘I seem to have an address now.’” 

By the end of Chapter 21, Sam seems to have formed a genuine community in the mountains. His friend “Mr. Jacket” (or Tom Sidler) visits him every weekend, as does Bando, who now uses a car to venture up there. The author is using figurative language in this passage. When Sam tells Bando that he now has an address, he does not literally mean that he has an address but is making a point to say his home at the Gribley farm has become public.

“‘But, Dad, a Gribley is not for the land.’ ‘What do you mean?’ he shouted. ‘The Gribleys have had land for three generations. We pioneer, we open the land.’ He was almost singing.” 

This conversation in Chapter 22 between Sam and Mr. Gribley harkens back to the book’s first chapter, when Sam’s dad warns him “the land is no place for a Gribley” (9). There’s a shift in Mr. Gribley’s view of the land and in his tone. Where at the beginning his words were an ominous warning for Sam to avoid the land, now Mr. Gribley shouts and sings in praise of this same land. What’s changed? Sam’s spent the past year proving that Gribleys can successfully live off the land.