Genre
Young Adult/Adventure
Setting and Context
The novel is set in Frontier Texas in the late 1860s.
Narrator and Point of View
First-person point of view from the perspective of the young man Travis Coates.
Tone and Mood
The mood is angry but also hopeful and determined as the narrator seeks to free himself and the others from their captors. The tone of the narration is aggressive and critical since the characters are tormented and held as captives.
Protagonist and Antagonist
The protagonist is Travis Coates also the narrator. The antagonist is the Apache and Comanche Indians who capture the children.
Major Conflict
The lives of Travis, Arliss, and Lisbeth are at the hands of their captors and their only hope is Savage Sam who either might be trailing them or already dead.
Climax
The climax occurs when Travis is left behind and found by Savage Sam after the confrontation between the Apaches and the cavalry patrol.
Foreshadowing
Travis comforts Lisbeth by saying “I don’t much think so. Been a long time since Indians raided in these parts. Eight or nine years, best I remember.”
This foreshadows the raid conducted by the Indians later as the children are held captive.
Understatement
“I paid no mind to the viney nettles that stung my ankles. I hardly felt the goat-head burs stabbing the soles of my bare feet. I didn’t bother about getting mistaken for an Indian and shot at again. All I had in my mind was seeing the kill.”
Travis understates the pain he is undergoing for the chance to see his captors get killed.
Allusions
The tale alludes to the famous story of Herman Lehman who was captured by Apache and Comanche tribesmen alongside his brother Willie in 1870.
Imagery
“Our part of Texas was a rough country of brushy hogback ridges and rock-bench slopes, with wide mesquite flats and deep-cut canyons and tight little valleys studded with great gnarled live oaks. Willows, pecans, elms, and cottonwoods lined the watercourses.”
Paradox
N/A
Parallelism
Travis mentions Old Yeller Savage Sam’s father drawing comparisons between the two dogs to highlight their traits.
Metonymy and Synecdoche
N/A
Personification
Throughout the tale, the narrator personifies the animals around them including the dog, horses, and wild animals.
