SOUNDER

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

• He grew up in Lexington, Virginia
• He went to Hampdon-Sydney College
• Did graduate work at the University of Virginia
• Lives on a rocky hill

Boy
He is a little bit lonely at times but seems to want his dad's approval.His movie name is David Lee

Sounder
The family's hunting coon dog, who goes through an injury.

Dad
The father is a quiet man, who usually doesn't talk but is accused of stealing. His movie name is Nathan Lee.

Mom
Serious, almost has no emotion. But you can tell she loves her family a lot. Her movie name is Rebecca.

Sibilings
Not in the story much, but still important to the story. They truly understand what the family was going through.

Setting
A small cabin in Louisiana, a jailhouse, a teacher's cabin, and the road.

Chapter Summary
Chapter 1
It introduces Sounder and the other characters. It shows what is going on in the story so far. It tells about the family and what they do. Though they were poor, suddenly the boy finds ham and pork sausage cooking in the kitchen. Hmmm.

Chapter 2
In this chapter, it gets grim. The father is taken, accused of being a thief. I can not repeat his exact words. As the cart holding the Father drove away, faithful Sounder tried to save the father. He was shot.

Chapter 3
This chapter continues the pain of the second chapter. They do not eat ham and sausage for breakfast. The boy is desperate for Sounder to still be alive. The mom goes to the store to sell the ham and sausage... Fencing.

Chapter 4
The boy tells the siblings not to ask their mom for anything. He is intent on going into the woods and is sure Sounder is alive. The boy also visits his father in jail.

Chapter 5
The boy goes home from the jail after visiting his father. Then, suddenly, he hears scratching at the door. Sounder is back, but he lost an eye, ear, and leg.

Chapter 6
It definitely is good that Sounder is back. His father is sent to work somewhere out of town. He starts searching for him.

Chapter 7
The boy continues looking for his father. People sometimes hear he had been moved. While he looks for his father, he gets his fingers smashed by the guard. On his way home, he finds a book in a trash can. He meets a man who helps him heal, and offers to teach him.

Chapter 8
Sounder senses something in this sour and sweet chapter. He barks. He hasn't barked since he was shot. It's the father! He is limping home hurt. They let him go. Everything is good again when the father decides to hunt again. He doesn't make it home. Many days later, Sounder dies. For real this time.

Theme
I believe the theme has to do with the moms song that she sings. "You gotta walk that lonesome valley, you gotta walk it by yourself, ain't nobody else gonna walk it for you." I think the theme is sometimes life can push you down hard, but even through tough times there's a light.

Theme part two
As Albus Dumbledore said to his students in book three of Harry Potter, "love can be found in even the darkest of places, as long as one remembers to turn on the light." And thinking about The lonesome valley, I think the boy's lonesome valley is that stretch of time where he has lost his father... But there still is the teacher at the end of that valley

QUOTES!!

• "You gotta walk that lonesome valley, you gotta walk it by yourself."
• "That world of long ago gas almost totally changed. The church balcony is gone. The table is gone from the kitchen. But the story remains."
• " If a flower blooms once, it goes on blooming somewhere forever. It blooms on for whoever has seen it blooming."

THE END