Themes

The Yearling is a touching, suspenseful, and realistic story about a boy caught between love for his pet and responsibility to his family. The novel follows a year in the life of this playful and sensitive boy — a year filled with adventure and danger, loss and loneliness. The boy's experiences of sorrow, bitterness, and courage speak of what it means to grow up in a harsh environment.

The Yearling's treatment of a boy's maturation might be seen as stereotypical. As the book opens, Jody is relaxed and carefree, at one with nature and confident that owning a pet will complete his happiness. By the end of the story he has grown to regard life as hard and lonely, has been thrust into the violent world of the hunt, and has been forced, in the name of survival and maturity, to betray and destroy that which he loves...