68 pages • 2 hours read
Wilson RawlsWhere the Red Fern Grows
Wilson RawlsFiction | Novel | YA | Published in 1961A 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.
Chapters 14-15Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Chapter 14 Summary
One day, Grandpa sends for Billy. He comes to the store, letting Old Dan and Little Ann tag along. Grandpa has Billy rehash the entire story of Rubin’s death, then advises Billy to forget about it as much as he can and not feel guilty. Grandpa laments pushing Billy to take the bet.
There is a championship raccoon hunt competition occurring in a few days. Grandpa tells Billy he’s been keeping track of the hides Billy and the hounds have caught, filed the necessary paperwork, and paid the entrance fee. All Billy has to do is compete. The winner will receive a gold cup, Grandpa tells him.
Billy excitedly agrees. He will invite Papa, but suspects he’ll be too busy with the farm to come along. The competition begins in six days. Grandpa will drive Billy there in his buggy.
Billy heads home, giving his sisters a big bag of candy, courtesy of Grandpa. He tells the family about the big hunting competition and asks Papa to come. As he hesitates, Mama pipes in, saying she can finish up Papa’s work. Billy notices for the first time that she’s pregnant. He’s been so busy hunting; he didn’t realize until now. His little sisters chime in, voicing their unwavering support for Billy and his hounds, and promising to help tend to the farm so that Papa can go along, too. Billy promises the littlest sister the golden cup if they win.
They depart for the hunt. Billy feels proud and excited, walking alongside his father toward Grandpa’s store. They reflect upon how odd Little Ann is: how she acts like a puppy when she’s playing but is the most intelligent dog they’ve ever seen. Billy says that he’s noticed Little Ann is gun shy, getting anxious and trembling every time she hears a gun go off. Again, he asks for a gun (to help train Little Ann to not be afraid), but Papa backs up Mama in saying Billy isn’t ready.
Grandpa and Papa convince Billy to let the hounds ride in the buggy (he was about to let them walk the whole way, as they’re used to walking everywhere). Billy notices his ax in the buggy: “The excitement of the hunt was so strong in me, even the sight of the ax brought back only a fleeting remembrance of Rubin’s accident” (166).
Grandma appears for the first time in the novel, making sure everyone has warm clothes. Grandpa sneaks a jug of corn liquor into the buggy, and they’re on their way.
Chapter 15 Summary
They stop along the way, spending the night by a creek. Grandpa gives Billy some corned beef to feed the hounds, a welcome treat after having corn-meal mush regularly. Old Dan refuses to eat until Little Ann has her share. They always eat together.
In a small rite of passage, Grandpa pours Billy a cup of coffee, making Billy feel like even more of a man. That night, as Billy is falling asleep, he hears two screech owls hooting. There’s a superstition that states hearing two screech owls is bad luck. No matter how much Grandpa and Papa try to reassure Billy that it’s just superstition, he feels disturbed by this ominous sign.
The next day, they reach the base camp. It’s full of men, wagons, and the finest purebred hunting dogs around. Billy’s reputation has preceded him. The first night, they hold a hound beauty contest. Billy decides to enter Little Ann. The judges eliminate contestant after contestant until the judges are stuck between Little Ann and another hound.
The crowd calls for them to be walked. The other hound is distracted by something and jumps off. Little Ann walks beautifully, laying her head on Billy’s shoulder at the end of the runway. The crowd erupts, and she wins first place: a small silver cup.
The rules of the competition are that three sets of hunters will go out each night, accompanied by a judge. The ones who tree the highest number of raccoons will eliminate the others. Billy feels young, poor, and out of place among the other hunters, but they treat him like an equal. Billy pulls from a hat, determining he will hunt the fourth night.
Out of the first few nights, one team trees three raccoons. Billy’s hounds have treed three coons only four times before. Grandpa boasts that they’ve treed six. When another hunter asks Billy if his grandpa is just blowing off steam, Billy “told him [his] grandfather had a little steam, but he was the best grandpa a boy ever had” (181).
Chapters 14-15 Analysis
These chapters set up the big hunting competition in which Billy and the hounds will participate.
In Chapter 14, Rawls explores Billy’s family’s support. In a testament to the myopic tendencies of a young boy (again reminding the reader of Billy’s youth, despite his very adult activities and independence), Billy hasn’t noticed that his mother is pregnant until this moment. He gratefully soaks in his family’s love and unwavering support.
To expand upon this familial support, Grandpa has been secretly keeping track of all the hides Billy’s hounds have brought into the store. He registers Billy for a championship coon hunt. The familial bond and generational wisdom passed from grandfather to grandson has been steadily expanding as the novel progresses. Bringing Papa into the fold of hunting together takes this to an even deeper level. Three generations of men set out on a primal adventure together in another demonstration of aspects of the hero’s journey.
Billy’s rapid maturation appears once they get to camp, and he holds his own amongst the other participants: adult hunters. Billy’s youth and lower economic status could form a divide. However, he not only communes with the other hunters with ease, he bests them in the beauty pageant.
The superstitious apprehension of two screech owls hooting adds to the tension leading up to the hunt and foreshadows unlucky events to come.
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