Conflict Resolution

The Only Dog to him

Author's Note- This piece was created because I was looking to improve my grade on Conflict Resolution.  The essay is on the book Old Yeller by Fred Gipson.

Love is a powerful thing, and when you ask 100 people that own a dog 99 of them will say that their dog is a part of their family.  In Fred Gipson's novel, Old Yeller, a dog has found one of those 99 families.  Things are looking good for Old Yeller  and has found a new job of protecting the house while Travis’s dad is out on a cattle drive.  Things turn for the worst when Old Yeller helps Travis escape death but the dog does not.

Think about it, would you pick up a stay dog running around your yard with it's guts flying out, literally?  I don't think Travis did either.  In fact at the beginning of the book he actually somewhat hated the dog.  Once Travis's dad left he learned to love the dog when he went exploring in the woods next to his wood cabin.  This is one of the conflicts in the book, it is a person vs. self issue.  Travis needed to learn to love the dog or he might not have seen his dad again.

Throughout the book Old Yeller faces three main battles.  One of these three kill Old Yeller and another one hurts him badly.  This is the person vs. nature part of the book.    What I think is the most critical part of his growth as a dog besides the death scene is when he battled the wild hogs.  When Travis finds himself in a stampede he has to save Yeller but it is to late.  The hogs have trampled him and have now cut his belly open.  He can not walk or even stand up.  Luckily they are not far away from the house and mama brings the horse to carry them back and fix Yeller up.  I think this is a great growth part of the book because Yeller finally earns Travis' complete trust and the same with Travis to tell Yeller that he will always be there for him.

This book also reminds me of Marley & Me because it is a similar type dog book.  Although Yeller is not the worst dog in the world and doesn't try to run away, he does do some strange things to protect the family.  But Marley teaches the family a lesson that even if you might not be perfect you can still be loved anyway.   I think that Old Yeller did the same.

Yeller got into some pretty tough situations and he could not get out of the last one.  When the sun went down one day Yeller and Travis were watching it when they hear growling noises.  They see a wolf about 10 yards away darting straight towards them.  While Yeller steps up and fights the beast Travis gets help but there is nothing he can do.  He must watch.  Finally the wolf runs away and Yeller has won the fight but not the war.  He has been bitten by the wolf, there is no way to help Old Yeller unless papa gets home to help deal with rabies.  Travis can do nothing but love the dog that has changed his life forever.