Reliance on a Higher Authority

A religious theme is overt in this novel. At the end of the story, the young boy who has achieved the dawning of manhood has also found his faith in God. As a little boy of ten, Billy prays to God for the hounds he so dearly desires. When he gets the dogs, though, he neglects to say thank you to God. Billy often talks to his mother about God and faith, and she encourages him to trust in the Lord. Her own actions reveal a firm faith, when Billy brings home the prize money she says that God has answered her prayers. Later that night Billy sees her kneel in prayer in front of the dog house. She certainly provides a model of religious faith.

Billy must develop his faith and his relationship with God on his own, however. At first he sees...