Analysis Of Elizabeth George Speare's The Sign Of The Beaver

Have you ever had an uneasy feeling about a decision and ignored the feeling but regretted it later? In the book The Sign of the Beaver by Elizabeth George Speare, Matt’s dad faced this dilemma on whether to leave his son alone while he returned to get the rest of his family. Even though Matt is more skilled and capable than the average 12 year old today, his dad still should not have left him because Matt is too young, Colonial Maine is too uncivilized for a boy to be by himself, and his father was too uneasy upon taking his departure from Matt.
First of all, Matt is too young. He was only 12 years old at the time when his father left him there to protect the home and the food. Matt had never been left home alone for this long before, and …show more content…
His father demonstrated his sense of unease by giving him the better of the two guns, in hopes that if he would need to kill something big he could. Speare tells us, “It was the first sign that he had given that he felt uneasy about leaving Matt here alone” (4). Also, He gave Matt the watch; although it was not very helpful in means of self defense, Matt’s dad gave it to him as a gift in case he never would see him again. When he left he was clearly ignoring the uneasy feeling he had. This could have leaded to regret if Matt had of been severely hurt or killed.
Matt’s dad should not have left him because Matt is young and inexperienced, Colonial Maine is a too uncivilized place for a young boy to be left alone for an unknown amount of time, and finally when his father returned everything worked out fine for Matt but, it could have gone very wrong and his father was uneasy about leaving. When his father returned everything had worked out well for Matt because the Indians practically adopted him and even saved his life. But, if the Indians had not have been there to help Matt, he may have died and his father might have had to live with the regret of ignoring his