Seton Book Report: the Yearling

348 Words2 Pages
In The Yearling by Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings, the author portrays the experiences of life in the backwoods of Florida in the late 1800s. Here, life is simple, but survival is difficult. The roaming wildlife and lush landscape provide many adventures for a young boy, such as Jody Baxter. Along with the adventures, there are responsibilities. The novel illustrates how Jody's sense of responsibility helps him to resolve the conflict of meeting his own need to raise the fawn, and meeting his family's need for survival. Raising his pet fawn contributed largely to Jody's enjoyable childhood. Jody found himself often jealous of his friend's large collection of pets. When he finds the fawn, it fills a hole in his heart. The fawn brings Jody great joy, largely due to his yearning for a creature to love him as Old Julia loved his father. To put it simply, Jody loved Flag dearly. Survival in the backwoods of Florida is difficult, and Jody must work with his parents for this purpose. He plows the fields for crops to help feed his family. He goes on enjoyable hunting trips with his father to provide meat. He helps his mother prepare dinner. Because his father is sickly, Jody often has to pitch in and help. Jody's sense of responsibility helps him to deal with the fawn's interference with his family's survival. Flag is prone to inadvertently causing destruction that could risk the Baxter's safety. However, Jody makes sacrifices to try and make both the need for his family's and his fawn's survival, giving up various privileges. Jody finds his responsibility a strong part of his being. In the end, Jody's sense of responsibility helps him to resolve the conflict between meeting his own need and meeting his family's need. However, Jody faces many trials and tribulations with this struggle. With a lovable cast, heartfelt moments and lush world, The Yearling
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