Where The Red Fern Grows

Initially, I was under the impression that this class was going to be a joke. I had lived in the South for 21 years and thought I already knew everything about the South. After reading Dr. Eckard’s syllabus, I knew this was not going to be the case. From religion to southern dialect, this class presented the opportunity to learn more about the South that I had been exposed too. My three favorite posts this year was the discussion of family and gender, religion in the South, and The Evening Hour. Subsequently, each of these readings presented different traits that makes the South unique. Over the course of the semester, one of my favorite discussions was about family and gender in the South. For this discussion, I watched Where the Red Fern Grows. This movie exemplified how close knit many families in the South are. In addition, this movie demonstrated how many families lived paycheck to paycheck. In the movie, Billy had always wanted a set of coon dogs, however, his family never had the money to get him the dogs. As a result, Billy started selling fruit and bait to fisherman to get a set of coon dogs. I thought this was significant as well because many children in rural towns go to work at a young age. Personally, I started working on our farm as soon as I could reach the gas pedal on the tractors. …show more content…
This novel describes the struggle of Cole Freeman. From drug addiction to being torn about his family’s land, Cole experiences many current issues in the South today. Poverty is still an issue in the South today and people try to escape this fact through drug addiction. Just in my town, I know several individuals that battle this same addiction. Furthermore, many of the individuals face the battle between holding onto family land or selling it. This was a difficult decision for Cole because this land was all he knew. Throughout these three readings, my appreciation for the South has