Sounder by William Armstrong

Sounder by William Armstrong is a story of compassion about a great hunting dog that impacts a boy's life in an amazing way. It is a story that depicts ways in which animals and humans can share great bonds among each other. It also shows how the emotions of animals and humans are not that different. In many circumstances, the feelings are almost quite mutual.

Chapter one begins with the father standing on his porch stroking his hunting dog Sounder. His son, being a curious young boy, asks his father how he got Sounder. He explains that Sounder came to him as a pup. He found him on the side of the road. The boy loves his father's dog, especially now that it is winter and too cold to make the eight mile walk to school. The boy pictures Sounder shaking a possum dead from a tree without even puncturing the skin. This is what makes him such a great hunting dog. Sounder's most impressive quality however was his echoing bark which rang so loudly that most of their neighbors could even hear it.

As the father and son are talking, the father tells his son that if it is not too windy later, they will go hunting that night. They then go inside where the boy's mother is cooking dinner, corn mush in fact. They eat together as a family, which includes the three younger children as well. At the table, the boy's parents talk about how the hunting should be better next year. The boy then pictures all the empty sacks his father and Sounder have come home with on their many hunting trips. After dinner it begins to get windy so the boy feeds Sounder and his father goes off to hunt by himself. For extra money, the boy's mother spends her night hours shelling walnuts. He wishes she should sing or tell him a story because he is quite lonely with his father leaving. He then hears Sounder underneath the front porch and wonders why his father went alone.

As the night comes to an end the boy is in his room dreaming. He dreams that there is a huge flood and the houses are floating on the water, just like in the Bible. When he awakes, he smells something delightful. It is hambone, which is something he has only smelled twice before. His father has returned and the boy then hears his mother humming, which is a sign of her distress. He goes to the kitchen and they eat the ham. After breakfast his mother sews up a hole in his father's overalls. That night the boy vows to learn to read so that "he wouldn't be lonesome even if his mother didn't sing."

This chapter reflects the importance of man and his best friend. When the boy pictures how wonderful his father's hunting dog is, he is realizing the connection he has with him. The dog brings the boy hope and also closer to his father. That is a very important key factor in this chapter. The fact is established that Sounder is the link between the boy and his father.

Chapter two - A few days go by and the family is still consuming from the hambone. Around sunset they hear footsteps outside. Three white men then enter their cabin. The first says, "There are two things I can small a mile away. One's ham cookin' and the other's a thievin' nigger." The man then grabs the tablecloth, which at this point is basically soaked in grease, and the other man points out the mended hole in the father's overalls, which of course he claims happened when the ham was stolen. The man grabs the boy's father forcefully and Sounder follows them, barking the whole way. The men threaten to shoot him if he does not stop so the boy holds him back until the men are down the road. Sounder then rips out of the boy's hands and runs down the road after the wagon. One of the men sees Sounder chasing them and opens fire. Sounder is shot and falls down on the road.

The boy screams and runs out to his father's dog. The dog tries to get up, but doesn't succeed. The dog's shoulder and side of his head are missing. The boy's mother runs out as well and beckons the boy to leave the dog to die in peace. The boy, while quite upset, obeys. Later that night the boy sneaks out and goes to look for the dog. He is not where he left him but the boy finds Sounder's ear and returns home. He places the dog's ear under his pillow and wishes for him to be alive. Before he can fall asleep, the boy fills Sounder's dish with food and leaves it outside just in case he decides to return.

This chapter reflects the feeling an animal can have towards those who care for it. When Sounder's owner is taken, he becomes distressed and chases after him. He refuses to give up, even to a point of getting shot. Humans do not only share a bond with an animal, but animals return the feeling. They can sense when things go wrong. When they are left by an owner, they remember. This just shows that animals have feelings as well.

Chapter three - The morning comes and the family is back to their old routine for breakfast of eating biscuits and gravy. After breakfast, the boy goes out to look for Sounder, but cannot find him. The boy's mother must then leave to sell her walnuts but tells the boy to give up because Sounder will not return that day. As his mother leaves the boy feels that penetrating loneliness once again. He then goes on with taking care of the younger children, stoking the fire, and then goes upstairs to get Sounder's ear. He places the ear in his pocket and disobeys his mother's orders by leaving to look for the dog. He remembers all of Sounder's favorite spots and checks every one. However, the dog is not to be found. The boy, surprised the dog is no where to be seen, wonders if he is even still alive, possibly off healing himself somewhere. The boy begins to whimper, not out of sorrow, but just because there was nothing else to fill up the sudden emptiness of the moment.

In this chapter, the boy feels such emptiness in his life, almost as if a part of him is missing. His mother feels it to but she cannot express her feelings because she must be strong for her children. This is all due to the fact that the man of the house is gone, but even the one to fill that void is gone. Sounder was an old friend that kept them safe and gave the children comfort, especially the boy. With him gone, the boy must look within himself for that void to be filled, which is quite difficult for such a young boy.

Chapter four - Later in the evening, the boy makes dinner for himself and his siblings as they wait for their mother. He tells the children not to annoy their mother with any questions of what she brought them back but at the same time wonders is she has returned the ham to the white men so that they will allow his father to come home. His mother however, returns alone and states that she gave everything back. The