43 pages • 1 hour read
Big Red
A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Summary
Background
Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Character Analysis
Themes
Symbols & Motifs
Important Quotes
Essay Topics
Tools
BetaChapters 5-8Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Chapter 5 Summary: “Red’s Education”
Danny worries that he won’t be able to train Red properly. He doesn’t agree with Ross’s methods of beating his hound dogs to teach them. He believes Red can learn to hunt partridges, although he hasn’t yet broken Red’s love for chasing rodents.
Danny and Ross take Red hunting and fishing with them. Ross lets Danny lead Red’s training, although he is skeptical of the dog’s abilities. While Red explores the grass and water, Danny and Ross catch bass. On the way home, Danny gets annoyed with Red for chasing a rabbit, but his mood changes when he sees how happy Red looks. He reminds himself that Red is a good dog and will soon learn what he wants him to. Danny reiterates these ideas to Ross that evening. However, Ross still wants Red to hunt rodents with him. Danny feels guilty telling Ross no, but thinks his father understands.
Danny takes Red with him to chop wood the next day. He talks to Red while he works. That night, Ross tells Danny that Mr. Haggin wants to see him at the house the following day. He has a woman visiting who wants to meet Red.
Danny feels uncomfortable when he reports to the estate and meets Mr. Haggin’s friend, Katherine Grennan. He doesn’t like how she treats Red and is horrified when she begs Mr. Haggin to take Red with her to Philadelphia. Danny is convinced he’ll never see Red again when he returns to the cabin that night. He doesn’t think a dog like Red should be taken “from the life he [is] meant for” (98) but doesn’t think he should question Mr. Haggin’s decisions.
Danny takes Red back to Mr. Haggin’s house the next morning. Despite his sadness, he puts Red into the car with Katherine when she prepares to leave. Katherine shrieks and demands Danny remove Red, because the dog stinks like skunk. Danny is thrilled that she has no interest in taking Red home with her anymore. Mr. Haggin laughs at the scene and tells Danny to take Red back to the cabin with him. Danny and Red race back to share the happy news with Ross. Ross laughs at Danny’s story. They both exclaim at the city woman’s silly behavior.
Chapter 6 Summary: “The Leaves Rustle”
Summer turns to fall. As the weather changes and hunting season approaches, Danny helps Ross set their traps throughout the Wintapi. Red accompanies him everywhere he goes. Red is good at obeying commands, but still hasn’t learned how to hunt birds.
That night, Ross asks Danny to take Red with him on his hunts. Danny evades the issue by saying that Red needs more training first. The next day, Danny takes Red out to set more traps near Lonesome Pond. When they return home, Danny is surprised that Ross still isn’t back. He knows that something is wrong when hours pass with no sign of Ross. When Ross finally returns, he looks tired and upset. A wild cat killed one of his hounds. Danny cares for Ross, because he knows how much Ross loves his dogs.
The game warden, John Bailey, stops over the next morning. Danny tells him about what happened to Ross. John agrees to find the wild cat if Danny finds the buck he was hunting.
Danny and Red go out after the buck. When Danny finally kills the buck, it falls on him and pins his leg to the ground. No matter what Danny does, he cannot move. Danny begs Red to go home and alert Ross, but Red won’t leave his side. Hours later, Ross and his hounds come to Danny’s rescue. Danny tells him about his night in the woods and all of the terrifying sounds that he heard. Ross insists that there was nothing to be afraid of. The sounds must have been Red, as he was scouting the woods to make sure Danny was safe. Danny is grateful for his dog.
Chapter 7 Summary: “Partridge Dog”
Danny rests up for a week after the buck incident. He’s thankful for Red’s company, because Ross spends every day hunting in the hills. Then one day, Mr. Haggin drops by to check on Danny. Danny is surprised to notice Mr. Haggin looking enviously at their trapper’s cabin (133). He wonders if Mr. Haggin is a different man than he thought he was and invites him to stay for breakfast. Over flapjacks, they discuss Red, dog shows, and dog breeds.
Ross returns from the hunt looking faint. While trailing a lynx, Ross ran into Old Majesty. Danny realizes that the bear has to die soon. Ross wants to take Red out in search of Old Majesty, but Danny insists he’s a partridge dog. He and Ross get into an argument about the dog’s future.
Ross is gone when Danny wakes up the next morning. Danny feels guilty for upsetting Ross during their argument, but still thinks his opinion of Red is right. That night, he tries to make amends with Ross, but his father ignores him. Throughout the following days, Danny teaches Red to hunt partridges. He trains Red to catch four birds a day. Red catches on quickly. However, Ross comes home with the same number of partridges as Danny each night, and he “had no dog” (143) to help him.
Ross goes out hunting and gets stuck in a snowstorm. Danny and Red go looking for him. Danny becomes terrified that Ross is dead the longer they search. Suddenly, Red spots Ross buried in the snow, but still alive. Later, Ross forgives Danny for their disagreement. Danny secretly knows that Red only found Ross because Ross had partridges in his coat.
Chapter 8 Summary: “Read the Sign”
Danny forces Ross to rest after what happened to him. He wants to call the doctor, but Ross insists they can’t afford it. Meanwhile, Danny goes out to help a neighboring farmer, John Allen, move his cows out of the pastures. Both Allen and Danny are impressed to see Red’s herding skills. That night, Danny tells Ross about the day. He informs his father that Allen mentioned a recent jail break from the local facility.
Danny and Red go buck hunting the next day. When Danny kills a buck, he encounters a wounded doe. He wonders what sort of person would hurt a deer this way. He doesn’t want to murder the doe but shoots her in the head to put her out of her misery. Suddenly, a man pops out of the woods and threatens to fine Danny for killing the doe, as doing so is against the law. Danny tries to explain what happened, because the man is wearing a badge. After hearing Danny’s story, the man agrees to waive the fine if Danny gives him $50 or his gun instead. Danny realizes that the man is the escaped prisoner, and not a game warden after all. He turns his gun on the man and leads him back to the cabin. At home, Danny tells Ross to hold the prisoner at gunpoint while he contacts Bailey. When Bailey hears Danny’s story, he is impressed by Danny and Red’s ability to find, trace, and hold the prisoner.
Chapters 5-8 Analysis
Throughout Chapters 5-8, Danny’s disagreements with his father and adventures at the estate and in the woods amplify the narrative tension and develop Danny’s Coming of Age and Personal Growth. Danny’s life in the Wintapi appears stable in the novel’s opening chapters. He lives a comfortable, although humble life with his father in a beautiful, wooded setting. He doesn’t have a mother or siblings, but he does gain a new friend when his dream dog, Red, comes to live with him. He spends his days adventuring and working in the woods, basking in the beauty of the natural world and cooking, eating, and swapping stories with Ross.
However, Danny’s life becomes more complicated when he tries to take responsibility for his dog and himself. Danny is growing up. He still loves his father but wants to do things his own way. Red helps him to identify his burgeoning desires and needs. In particular, Danny realizes that he wants to train Red the way he sees fit. Therefore, Danny uses his relationship with Red to claim autonomy over his personal growth. As a result, Danny and Ross’s relationship becomes less stable. This conflict coincides with Danny’s run-ins with Katherine Grennan, the buck, the doe, and the prisoner. Each of these incidents acts as a pivotal plot point and a new challenge for Danny’s evolving character.
Danny’s character begins to change when he starts training Red. Since Mr. Haggin has given him full responsibility for the dog, training Red empowers Danny. Indeed, Danny gets to make decisions about Red’s life, education, and future that he hasn’t been able to make for himself or another creature before. Therefore, when his father tries to question his methods, Danny must learn to claim his opinions and his voice. In Chapter 5, Ross insists that Danny should “give [Red] a hidin [beating]’” for chasing “the hot scent of the woodchuck in the hole” (79) instead of listening to Danny’s commands. Danny disagrees with his father, although he knows this is how Ross has trained his hound dogs in the past. He tells Ross that Red is “too smart and sensitive” to be beaten, and if he were to beat him, Red would “have no trust in [him] anymore” (79). This scene of dialogue illustrates Danny’s growing maturity and emerging empathy. Danny is still a young boy and Red is still a new addition to his life. However, he values his relationship with the dog and wants to respect and honor him in the same way he would his human companions.
Therefore, Danny is learning to vocalize his opinions and beliefs to his father even if it means disagreeing with Ross. Danny dislikes the arguments and tensions that result but remains loyal to Red and faithful to his own beliefs. Danny’s ability to stand up for himself and for his dog illustrates his character growth and the transformative Bonds Between Humans and Animals. Furthermore, learning to train Red teaches Danny patience, gentleness, attentiveness, and care.
Danny’s repeated ventures into the woods influence how he sees and understands the natural world, reflecting how he learns about Respecting and Understanding Nature. Each time that Danny leaves the cabin and heads deeper into the Watapi to hunt, fish, or trap, the narrative becomes more descriptive and lyrical. These formal shifts illustrate the ways in which the natural world affects Danny’s spirit, mind, and body. In Chapter 6, for example, the narrator uses adjectives including “listless,” “wintergreen,” and “velvet” to describe the woods through which Danny is moving (108, 109). These stylistic choices convey Danny’s deep connection with the trees, mountains, waters, and valleys of his home environment. He isn’t just attentive to his dog or his father. Rather, he is keenly observant of his surroundings and attuned to the movements, sounds, and patterns of the natural world.
Danny is also respectful of the creatures with whom he shares the woods. For example, when he encounters the wounded doe in Chapter 8, he tells himself, “Don’t murder it [...] Give it a chance” (169). Danny has no interest in killing the doe for sport. Ultimately, he does end up shooting her, but his decision is an act of mercy. The way he interacts with the doe parallels how Danny interacts with Red, emphasizing the deep empathy he feels for animals. This scene from Chapter 8 also contributes to Danny’s personal growth and reveals his deepening respect for nature and animals.
Unlock all 43 pages of this Study GuidePlus, gain access to 9,150+ more expert-written Study Guides.
Including features: