The Incredible Journey

According to The Incredible Journey, what specific characteristics distinguish domestic animals from wild ones? Use specific examples in your answer. You may want to contrast one of the domesticated animals against one of the wild animals that they encounter during their journey.

What is Burnford communicating about the bond that exists, specifically, between children and their pets? Use specific plot points, quotes, or character traits in your answer. 

Since domestic animals cannot communicate with humans using language, how is human-animal communication and relationship-building achieved? What must both humans and animals do in order to sustain these relationships?

What are the specific ways that The Incredible Journey teaches readers to respect animals and/or the natural world? Use specific quotes in your answer. 

Write an essay that explores and characterizes the liminal space that domesticated animals occupy—the realm that exists between the indifference of nature and the deep emotion of human life. 

What do the animal trio’s interactions with humans they don’t know during their incredible journey reveal about human relationships and/or society? Use specific incidents of human interaction in your answer.

How does Tao differ from his canine companions, and why? Use specific quotes in your answer.

Choose two human-animal relationships (i.e., Bodger and Peter, Elizabeth and Tao, James and Luath). Compare and contrast them. What makes each relationship unique, and why? What similarities do the relationships have, and what is Burnford communicating about the human-animal bond through these similarities?