Where the Red Fern Grows

by Wilson Rawls

Start Free Trial

Where the Red Fern Grows Questions and Answers

Where the Red Fern Grows Study Tools

Ask a question Start an essay

Where the Red Fern Grows

Rubin's death was caused by an accident during a hunt. While attempting to attack Billy's hounds with an axe, Rubin tripped and fell on the sharp blade, which fatally injured him.

1 educator answer

Where the Red Fern Grows

The setting of Where the Red Fern Grows is the Ozark Mountains during the Great Depression, which is crucial in shaping the story's themes of perseverance and the bond between humans and nature. The...

1 educator answer

Where the Red Fern Grows

The central idea in Where the Red Fern Grows is the bond between humans and their dogs, exemplified by Billy and his two dogs. The conflict resolution occurs when the dogs save Billy from a mountain...

2 educator answers

Where the Red Fern Grows

In "Where the Red Fern Grows," Billy paid $40 for the dogs. Initially, they were priced at $25 each, but after saving for two years, he learned the price had decreased by $5 per dog, reducing the...

1 educator answer

Where the Red Fern Grows

Billy learns several life lessons from his relationship with his dogs, including the value of hard work, innovation, and saving money to achieve goals. His bond with the dogs teaches him to care for,...

1 educator answer

Where the Red Fern Grows

In Where the Red Fern Grows, Billy is ten years old at the beginning of the novel. He is twelve when he earns enough money to buy the hounds, thirteen when he gets them, and fourteen by the end of...

1 educator answer

Where the Red Fern Grows

Billy, Old Dan, and Little Ann face several challenges in "Where the Red Fern Grows." Billy struggles to earn money for his dogs and must train them to hunt. He also deals with the death of Rubin,...

1 educator answer

Where the Red Fern Grows

Billy's grandfather uses a brace and bit, a hand tool for drilling holes, to set a raccoon trap. By drilling a hole into a log and placing shiny tin at the bottom, surrounded by slanted nails, a...

1 educator answer

Where the Red Fern Grows

The primary setting of "Where the Red Fern Grows" is in the 1920s in the Ozark Mountains of northeastern Oklahoma, where young Billy Colman grows up on a farm. The story reflects the natural beauty...

1 educator answer

Where the Red Fern Grows

The main time period in Where the Red Fern Grows is the 1920s. Most of the action occurs in the Ozark Mountains of Oklahoma during Billy's childhood, despite the story beginning in the present day of...

1 educator answer

Where the Red Fern Grows

Billy initially names the big sycamore tree "the chicken tree" because it reminds him of a mother hen hovering over her young. He later renames it "the giant" but changes it again due to negative...

1 educator answer

Where the Red Fern Grows

In Where the Red Fern Grows, Billy gave his raccoon hunting earnings to his father. Despite the high value of the hides, Billy was not interested in the money and never questioned how it was used....

1 educator answer

Where the Red Fern Grows

Rubin Pritchard is about fifteen or sixteen years old when he dies in "Where the Red Fern Grows." He is described as two years older than Billy, the protagonist, who is around thirteen when he...

1 educator answer

Where the Red Fern Grows

Billy hesitates to kill the ghost raccoon because he feels compassion for it, recognizing its long life and legendary status. During the hunt, after the raccoon is cornered and cries out, Billy is...

1 educator answer

Where the Red Fern Grows

The ghost coon is hiding in a hollow fence post, which is unusual for it, as it typically climbs a tree and seems to vanish. Billy and the Pritchard boys, after a challenging hunt, discover the...

2 educator answers

Where the Red Fern Grows

Billy earns money by picking and selling blackberries to his grandpa, who helps him order the dogs from a company after seeing an advertisement in a catalog. The dogs are shipped to a town 20 miles...

1 educator answer

Where the Red Fern Grows

Billy buries Old Dan on the hillside because it is a beautiful place overlooking the countryside, where wildflowers grow. He hopes Old Dan can hear the hounds' voices from the river bottoms. This...

1 educator answer

Where the Red Fern Grows

The coon used a clever backtracking trick to fool the dogs. It climbed a water oak, then retraced its steps down the tree, effectively confusing Old Dan and Little Ann. The coon then leaped to...

1 educator answer

Where the Red Fern Grows

Billy is initially shocked and troubled by Rubin Pritchard's death, experiencing bad dreams and a sense of helplessness. He discusses his feelings with his mother, who shares his sentiment but feels...

1 educator answer

Where the Red Fern Grows

The winner of the championship coon hunt in Where the Red Fern Grows receives a gold cup as the grand prize. Billy's dogs win the championship and also receive additional awards: Little Ann wins a...

1 educator answer

Where the Red Fern Grows

Although the other hunters do not always take Billy seriously, he does not mind hanging out with them. He tells stories about Old Dan and Little Ann's exploits to the hunters, and they tease him in...

1 educator answer

Where the Red Fern Grows

Billy spends two days attempting to chop down the large sycamore tree where a raccoon is hiding. Despite his efforts and determination, he is unable to complete the task due to blistered hands. On...

1 educator answer

Where the Red Fern Grows

The weather in "Where the Red Fern Grows" symbolizes the emotional and physical challenges faced by the characters. It often reflects the mood and intensity of various scenes, acting almost as a...

2 educator answers

Where the Red Fern Grows

Rainie is in a state of shock after his brother’s death.

1 educator answer

Where the Red Fern Grows

Billy is the first-person narrator of Where the Red Fern Grows. He tells us the story of his childhood in past tense.

1 educator answer

Where the Red Fern Grows

Billy names his two coon hounds "Old Dan" and "Little Ann." After considering various names, he decides on these when he sees them carved inside a heart on a sycamore tree. The names reflect the...

1 educator answer

Where the Red Fern Grows

Papa wants to move to town primarily to ensure his children receive a proper education and experience a broader world beyond the backwoods of Oklahoma. As a farmer during the Great Depression, he is...

2 educator answers

Where the Red Fern Grows

Rainie's dog that fights with Old Dan is named Old Blue. Old Blue, a mean and heavy blue tick hound, gets into a fierce fight with Old Dan after being freed by Rainie and Rubin Pritchard. The fight...

1 educator answer

Where the Red Fern Grows

The mountain lion scene in Where the Red Fern Grows occurs in Chapter 19. During this chapter, Old Dan and Little Ann confront a bobcat, leading to a fierce and bloody battle. Despite Billy's efforts...

1 educator answer

Where the Red Fern Grows

During the final elimination round, the weather is harsh with a darkening sky and an approaching blizzard. As Billy competes in the championship coon hunt with his dogs, Little Ann and Old Dan, the...

1 educator answer

Where the Red Fern Grows

Billy explains that his hounds stopped and stared at him during the hunt because they sensed the importance of the event. Although no words were exchanged, Billy felt a deep, almost mystical...

1 educator answer

Where the Red Fern Grows

Billy drinks coffee to prove that he is a man.

1 educator answer

Where the Red Fern Grows

Grandpa puts his britches on backwards due to his excitement and haste to get ready for a coon hunting contest in which Billy and his dogs, Old Dan and Little Ann, are participating. This humorous...

1 educator answer

Where the Red Fern Grows

When the box elder is pushed down, Billy finds three large raccoons hidden inside its hollow trunk. The coons scatter, with Old Dan and Little Ann each capturing one, while the third escapes...

1 educator answer

Where the Red Fern Grows

Billy and his dogs perform exceptionally well on the first night of the competition, despite some obstacles. They catch their first raccoon quickly, but a blizzard complicates their efforts. Billy's...

1 educator answer

Where the Red Fern Grows

To complete an ABC Diary for "Where the Red Fern Grows" focusing on U, X, Y, and Z, brainstorm words starting with these letters. Use "until" and "yet" for U and Y to highlight plot points. For Z,...

1 educator answer

Where the Red Fern Grows

In the first chapter, Billy Coleman encounters a redbone hound involved in a dogfight. He rescues the dog, gently coaxing it out from under a hedge and taking it home to care for it. Billy feeds and...

2 educator answers