The Yearling

3 Pages 866 Words

After the Civil War many men moved to the scrubs. One of those men was
Penny Baxter, who moved to a place in the scrubs called Baxter’s Island. He settled
there and started a family. He had a wife who goes by Ma, and a son named Jody.
Jody’s maturity is shown throughout one year, through different events, in the novel
called The Yearling.
In the early stages of the book Jody spends his time avoiding his chores, and
having fun instead. “He [Penny] was doing Jody’s work, and in his good coat”(9).
Although, it seemed not always to be Jody’s fault that he did not do his work, but
some blame could be put on Penny. “’Men-folks has got to stick together in the
name o’ peace’”(11). Penny remembers what it’s like to be a kid, there is just one
rule, to act like a kid. Jody did eventually mature enough to do his chores around
the house. “’ Look at him [Jody] move,’ his mother said. ‘To see him hoe, you’d
think he was a snail. Say “huntin”’ ‘ and he’s as quick as an otter’”. (29) Besides
hunting, something else motivated Jody to be responsible; Flag. Flag was a fawn
that Jody found and raised by himself. Jody was extremely proud of Flag, although
Flag was a bit rambunctious toward the end of the book, ruining the only crops the
Baxter’s had to eat. This was a serious matter because there was no more hunting
to be done at this point, hunting season had ended and the crops and the little meat
were suppost to get them through the winter. Throughout the past year, Jody is
maturing with each coming day.
Different events also guided Jody on the right path to becoming a man. For
instance, the death of Fodder-wing. This was a horrible tragedy in this story, yet w
if it had not happened, Jody would not have had that motivation to take on more
responsibility as he grew older. “’I come to see Fodder-wing. I come to show him
my fawn’. . .’Buck said, �...