68 pages • 2 hours read
Where the Red Fern Grows
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Essay Topics
In the first chapter, Billy gazes at the cups on his mantle. One is small and silver, the other large and gold. What do these cups represent, and how do they foreshadow events regarding Old Dan and Little Ann?
Compare the personalities of the two hounds. What are their respective strengths and weaknesses?
When Billy goes to town, women giggle and point at him. He later refers to his sisters similarly. How does the perspective of a young boy influence how women are portrayed in the novel?
How are the Ozarks themselves a character in the novel? Like relationships between characters, examine the influence the setting has on the plot.
Analyze Billy’s coming-of-age. Where does he act like a man, and where does his childhood supersede his ambition?
Billy’s family history is vague, but the reader knows his mother has Cherokee ancestry. How is post-colonialism represented in the novel?
Why does Wilson Rawls not name the three younger sister characters? Analyze how this helps or hurts the story.
God is an ever-present force in the novel. How does Billy’s relationship to God and prayer change as the novel progresses?
Killing for sport and fashion is a controversial issue in the modern age. Analyze Billy’s activities from an environmentalist’s perspective.
How does Where the Red Fern Grows bring up memories of your own childhood? Reflect on the similarities and differences in growing up now versus in Billy’s time and place.
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