Where The Red Fern Grows Sparknotes

Where the Red Fern Grows by Wilson Rawls takes the reader on an adventure through the Cherokee country. The setting takes place in the Ozark Mountains of Missouri or Oklahoma during the 1920’s. Most of the story is set in the wild outdoors and in the country home of Billy Coleman. The story has an inspiring but sad tone. Wilson Rawls tells a story of a boy, his hounds, and true love. The characters in Where the Red Fern Grows make the story come to life. Billy Coleman is the main character and faces the biggest challenge in the story. As the story begins, Billy is an adult remembering his childhood. Billy flashes back to the age of ten when he is struck with puppy love. He calls it “the real kind, the kind that has four feet and

Billy and his hounds face unexpected struggles each time they hunt. For example, there is always a battle to catch the coons. The first time Billy goes hunting, the hounds tree a coon in the biggest sycamore tree in the forest. For two whole days, Billy chips away at the tree until it finally falls down and the coon is caught. Billy is hot, exhausted, and aches all over. Another example of man versus nature is the weather during the Championship Coon Hunt. During this hunt, Billy and his hounds face a terrible blizzard. The winter weather is described as roaring and “the north wind seemed to be laughing at us” (202). The wind blows and the snow falls so fast that the Earth is instantly covered. Even the hounds have to stay in constant motion to keep from freezing to death. The biggest conflict occurs at the end of the story. Billy and his hounds encounter their biggest opponent, a mountain lion. All alone, they struggle with the wild creature that Billy refers to as a “devil cat” (226). The mountain lion has “yellow slitted eyes that burned with hate” (226). Billy watches as his hounds and the mountain lion tear at each other and fight till the end.
Up until the final hunt, Billy and his hounds are successful. The conflict is tragically resolved when Billy’s best friend, Old Dan dies fighting the mountain lion, and Little Ann dies two days later. Billy’s family decides to follow their dream of moving closer to town for a better life. As fate would have it, the money from the Championship Coon Hunt is just enough. Billy visits the graves of his hounds to say good bye. It is here that Billy learns an important lesson about life and