Owls in the Family

In Owls in the Family, the complicated relationship between people and animals takes the forefront. Farley Mowat presents this dynamic as a complicated relationship that has no absolute rights or wrongs, and in accordance with this approach, the main characters demonstrate a paradoxical mix of kindness and cruelty to the animals around them. The quality of their interaction largely depends upon the specific situation, and whether the humans interpret a given animal’s behavior as being positive or negative. Oftentimes, their tendency to anthropomorphize animal behavior is the deciding factor in how an animal will be treated. Thus, while there is compassion, there is also a tendency toward unthinkingly destructive acts as well.

The most memorable moments of kindness and compassion in the boys’ dealings with animals occurs in their relationship with the owls and the dog, Mutt, for all three animals hold elevated positions over the other pets and grow to become true members of the family. Both Billy and Bruce take care of their dogs and bring them on adventures, and a similar dynamic develops with the owls, especially Wol, who is the most adventuresome. Because of this positive relationship between the boys and their pets, people are kind to them and tend to be fairly forgiving of the trouble they cause. For example, when Wol causes Offy to leave in a huff, Billy’s father only remains upset momentarily. Then, “the very same afternoon he got out his carpenter’s tools and he and [Billy] worked until suppertime making a special cage for Wol” (30). This quick turnaround in attitude demonstrates the long-term commitment that the members of Billy’s family have to doing the right thing and taking good care of Billy’s pets, despite the complications they cause.

While the owls are treated with compassion throughout most of the story, they were not always treated thus, and even Billy and Bruce’s early ambitions to steal a baby owl from a wild nest demonstrate the indifferent cruelty that they are capable of showing to the wider world of wildlife in general. Initially, the boys are so driven to get owls as pets they are willing to steal the young owls from their parents, making the young owls incapable of fending for themselves, much as Wol and Weeps end up through no fault of the boys. The book is littered with instances of humans exercising their destructive power over animals. For example, when the canoe tips because Wol aggressively lashes out at a crow, causing every person and animal to fall into the mucky water, Wol does not get blamed for this. Instead, the crows are blamed for the results of their natural, instinctive behavior, and, as a result, Billy’s father makes it a point to shoot as many crows as he can the next day, merely out of a sense of pique at the inconvenience. Far from demonstrating discomfort with his father’s actions, Billy narrates the scene as just a normal way of life and casts no judgment upon his father. Similarly, at the beginning of the novel, Bruce crawls up a tree to steal crow eggs merely to get vengeance on the crows that are bothering him. The eggs are taken and ultimately destroyed as mere sport, a fact that is also presented without commentary or any sense of wrongdoing. Given Mowat’s own sensitivity to environmental issues, the artistic decision to convey such scenes with a deliberate tone of indifference emphasizes that humans are a destructive force on the natural world. Accordingly, he also conveys that humans’ casual power to mete out life or death to the animals around them is presented as simply a part of everyday life in rural Canada. That Billy presents this in a casual, matter of fact tone conveys just how indifferent the characters are to the realities of their cruelty.