57 pages • 1 hour read
Fred GipsonOld Yeller
Fiction | Novel | Middle Grade | Published in 1942A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more. For select classroom titles, we also provide Teaching Guides with discussion and quiz questions to prompt student engagement.
Summary
Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Character Analysis
Themes
Symbols & Motifs
Important Quotes
Essay Topics
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BetaChapters 13-16Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Chapter 13 Summary
Lisbeth is a big help around the home as Travis and Yeller heal from their wounds. Travis is slightly upset that Lisbeth can do most of the jobs that he usually does, and with a good attitude to boot. One morning, the heifer, Spot, arrives to be milked after being gone all night. Spot acts strangely, bawling, staggering, and ignoring her calf, and attacking Mama when she attempts to milk her. Mama and Travis worry Spot has hydrophobia but try to convince themselves otherwise. The roan range bull from the bullfight returns to their clearing, clearly sick and disoriented. Old Yeller growls at the bull, sensing its illness. The bull heads for the creek where Little Arliss and Lisbeth are playing. Mama runs to save the children, and the bull charges her but misses, falling on his weakened legs. Travis shoots the bull.
Chapter 14 Summary
Travis and Mama try to move the body of the roan bull away from their supply of drinking water, but the bull is too heavy for Jumper to pull. Mama declares they must burn the body where it is, since they do not want other animals to eat the meat and spread the sickness. Mama and Lisbeth spend days gathering wood to feed the massive fire. The scent of the roasting bull attracts wolves, and Old Yeller limps between the fire and the cabin, barking to keep them away. Spot, weak and crying, still walks wide circles around their property. Mama and Travis realize they need to kill her, so Travis follows her far from the cabin and shoots her. Still weak on his leg, Travis rests and cares for Little Arliss while Mama and Lisbeth go to burn Spot’s body. Yeller, though thin and weak, follows them. Travis admits the hydrophobia plague scares him, and he wishes Papa would come home.
Chapter 15 Summary
Mama and Lisbeth are not home by dark. Travis prepares to look for them when he hears dogs fighting and recognizes Yeller’s “raging yell” (146). Travis hears Jumper approaching. Mama shouts for Travis to make a light and get his gun. Travis starts a fire and sees Old Yeller fighting a huge gray loafer wolf. Travis waits until Mama is safe and shoots the wolf. Mama explains that the wolf is sick with hydrophobia. It came after her and Lisbeth when they stopped at the creek on the way home. Old Yeller saved their lives by keeping the wolf from reaching them. Mama quietly points out that since the wolf bit Yeller, the dog is most likely infected. Travis, “wild with hurt and scare” (152), says they cannot know for certain, but Mama, in tears, replies they cannot take a chance. She offers to shoot Old Yeller if Travis cannot do it. Travis knows Mama is right. Heartbroken, Travis shoots Yeller.
Chapter 16 Summary
Grief-stricken at the loss of Old Yeller, Travis feels “dead” inside (154). He remembers how he and Yeller “worked together and romped together” (155) and how Yeller saved all their lives. Mama’s talks cannot make Travis feel better. Lisbeth tries to help, pointing out that the speckled pup is “part Old Yeller” (155), but Travis does not care. A rainstorm brings an end to the hydrophobia plague, and Papa returns the next day. He brings Travis a fine horse, but Travis has no feelings for the animal. Papa learns about Yeller and tells Travis he is proud that Travis handled the situation like a man. Papa advises Travis that life has cruel and painful parts and parts that are wonderful. He encourages Travis not to fixate on the bad and waste the good. Travis understands, but he does not start to feel alive again until he sees the speckled pup steal some cornbread. It reminds him of Yeller. Travis plans to take Little Arliss and the pup out squirrel hunting and teach the pup to “earn his keep” and fill Old Yeller’s venerable place (158).
Chapters 13-16 Analysis
The theme of humanity’s struggle for survival against nature comes to a head in these culminating chapters. Travis feels that he has done a good job filling Papa’s shoes. Despite the hog injury which could have happened to anybody, “even a grown man” (143), Travis, with Yeller, have faced and overcome many natural hazards: bear attacks, wild hogs, and crop-eating varmints. Through it all, they have protected and provided for the family. Hydrophobia, however, scares Travis. This is an aspect of nature that is invisible and outside of human control, a “trouble a whole lot too big for any of us to handle” (129). The threat of hydrophobia inspires a different kind of fear than the visceral response to an observable, combatable foe. Hydrophobia is the one threat that Travis feels inadequate to and which makes him feel that he is not yet a man.
Travis transitions to adulthood when he kills Old Yeller. He overcomes the threat of hydrophobia, secures the safety of his family, and learns that the responsibilities of being grown up carry profound emotional consequences. Travis is forced to make an adult decision, choosing the safety of his family over the life of his loyal companion. Although Mama offers to shoot Old Yeller, Travis does it himself, taking on the responsibility, and guilt, for Yeller’s death. This action is his rite of passage. Papa confirms Travis’s new status, saying with pride that Travis acted like a “grown man” (156), though the much-longed-for praise is hollow to Travis in the face of Yeller’s death. Papa helps Travis navigate the complex adult emotions that Travis experiences after Yeller’s death. Papa’s life advice confirms that things happen in life which are “cruel and unfair” (156). Travis has learned this bitter adult lesson: Yeller, despite his bravery, loyalty, and love, clearly demonstrated in his acts of saving the lives of the women and children, had to be “shot down like he was nothing” (155). At the same time, Papa notes that good things in life happen too, and one must not let the bad outweigh them. While Travis will not, and should not forget Yeller, he must not let the negative experience tarnish his life.
When Travis sees a streak of Old Yeller in the pup, he can accept the little dog and fully grieve. Observing Little Arliss and the pup in the spring, Travis laughs until he cries—something he was unable to do after Yeller’s death. Water, representing life and sustenance, takes on symbolic significance in these final chapters. The circle of life has come around: nature takes and gives back to the earth. Yeller is gone, but the pup is part Yeller, and part something new. As Papa taught him, Travis will teach Little Arliss and the pup the skills and knowledge to become mature adults. Travis has reached emotional maturity.
The speckled pup features in the novel Savage Sam (1962), the sequel to Old Yeller, where he proves to be as brave and loyal as his father. Sam helps rescue Travis, Little Arliss, and Lisbeth from Indian captivity.
