Chapter 6: This is Jody’s Fawn
Chapter Summary
This story, adapted from Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings' novel "The Yearling," is about a young boy named Jody and his deep sense of responsibility and compassion.
Jody’s father, Penny, has been bitten by a rattlesnake. To save his own life, he is forced to kill a doe and use its heart and liver to draw out the poison. However, Jody cannot stop thinking about the doe's little fawn, which has been left orphaned and helpless in the forest. He feels responsible for its well-being.
Jody convinces his reluctant parents to let him go back and find the fawn. His mother, Ma Baxter, is worried about the lack of food, but Jody promises to feed it his own share of milk. His father agrees, stating that it would be ungrateful to leave the fawn to starve. Jody sets out with Mill-wheel, who helps him on his journey. Wanting to find the fawn on his own, Jody asks Mill-wheel to leave him and proceeds into the scrub alone.
After a long search, Jody finally finds the fawn. It is frightened but does not run. Jody gently strokes it and picks it up. He carries the weak and trembling fawn in his arms, protecting it on the long journey home. He sets it down to rest periodically, and the fawn begins to follow him. When they reach home, Jody takes the fawn to his father's bedside. Penny is glad to see that Jody found him.
Jody then takes on the responsibility of feeding the fawn. He lovingly gives it milk from a gourd, and though the fawn is initially hesitant, it soon begins to drink. The story ends with Jody feeling a deep sense of joy and fulfillment, having saved the orphaned fawn. It highlights themes of conscience, responsibility, and the deep connection between humans and nature.
Questions and Answers
Working with the Text
1. What had happened to Jody’s father?
Answer: Jody's father, Penny, had been bitten by a rattlesnake.
2. How did the doe save Penny’s life?
Answer: Penny killed the doe and used its heart and liver to draw out the snake's poison from the bite, which saved his life.
3. Why does Jody want to bring the fawn home?
Answer: Jody wants to bring the fawn home because he feels responsible for it. Since they killed its mother to save his father, he feels it would be ungrateful to leave the fawn to starve in the forest alone.
4. How does Jody know that the fawn is a male?
Answer: Jody's father had taught him that on a male fawn, the spots are all in a line. When Jody found the fawn, he saw the spots were in a line and knew it was a male.
5. Jody didn’t want Mill-wheel with him for two reasons. What were they?
Answer: The two reasons were:
(i) He was not sure he would find the fawn. If he couldn't, he didn't want Mill-wheel to see his disappointment.
(ii) If he did find the fawn, the meeting would be so lovely and secret that he did not want to share it with anyone else.
6. Why was Mill-wheel afraid to leave Jody alone?
Answer: Mill-wheel was afraid to leave Jody alone because Jody was just a young boy and the forest could be dangerous. He was worried that Jody might get lost or bitten by a snake.
7. How did Jody bring the fawn back home?
Answer: Jody first carried the fawn in his arms through the thick scrub. As he walked, he would set the fawn down to rest and let it follow him for a short distance. He carried it most of the way until they reached home.
8. Jody was filled with emotion after he found the fawn. Can you find at least three words or phrases which show how he felt?
Answer: Three phrases are:
(i) "touched it with a great wonder"
(ii) "the touch of it made him delirious"
(iii) "he was light-headed with his joy"
9. How did the deer drink milk from the gourd?
Answer: Jody dipped his fingers in the milk and thrust them into the fawn's soft, wet mouth for it to suck. He did this several times, and then lowered his hand so the fawn could drink directly from the gourd.
10. Why didn’t the fawn follow Jody up the steps as he had thought it would?
Answer: The fawn was still very young and weak. It did not know how to climb steps and its legs were not strong enough for the task.
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