Old Yeller

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Old Yeller is a 1956 book by Fred Gipson. The title is taken from the name of the fictional Mountain Cur dog who is a main character in the book. The book won the Newbery Honor in 1956. The 1957 film adaptation Old Yeller starred Dorothy McGuire and Tommy Kirk.

[edit] Plot summary

The Coates family consists of the father Jim, mother Katie, older son Travis, and younger son Arliss. The Coates are settlers in the territory of Texas near a settlement called Salt Licks.

The father is away on a cattle drive when an "old yeller dog" visits the family uninvited. Travis tries to shoo the dog away, but Arliss immediately takes to it. Their mother interferes, reasoning that the family could use a good dog. Though Travis initially loathed the "rascal", as he referred to the dog, and tried to get rid of it, Old Yeller eventually proves his worth, saving Travis, Little Arliss and the family on several occasions. Travis grows to love Old Yeller.

The rightful owner of Yeller shows up looking for his dog. After Arliss throws a fit, the owner recognizes that the family needs and has become attached to Yeller, he trades Yeller for a horny toad from Arliss (which he later sets free) and a home cooked meal.

The book ends when Yeller develops hydrophobia (rabies) after being bitten while defending the family from a rabid wolf. To protect his family, Travis tearfully shoots Yeller and in doing so takes a painful first step into manhood. Old Yeller (1957 Film) Summary).

The film versions of "Old Yeller", and its sequel, "Savage Sam" tend towards the Disney fantasy of the "noble savage" which portrays the American Indian as more or less a lovable bumbling fool, and discounts most of the raw and savage violence in the original print novels. Most especially, in "Savage Sam", the details of Travis being horribly tortured for hours by the Apache after stabbing his Indian captor with a pocket knife are completely omitted.^{[citation needed]}