The
Yearling
By: Marjorie Kinnan
Rawlings
Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings
Born August 8th of 1869, Marjorie was
born in Washington D.C., but spent a
great deal of her time on her family’s dairy
farm in nearby Maryland, and summers at
her grandparents’ farm in Michigan. Most
of her writings deal with poor, backwoods
Floridian farmers all the while putting an
extreme emphasis on man’s need to be in
harmony with the land about him. By
living in rural Florida for part of her life,
she was able to keenly sympathize with
her works, and express her hatred toward
the urban lifestyle. Also, throughout her
life, Rawlings is noted for some of her
other works such as "The Reincarnation of
Miss Hetty” in which she wrote at the age
of 15, but it is The Yearling in which she is
praised the most for in receiving a Pulitzer
Prize 1939 for the novel.
Set back in the 1800s, The Yearling is told in an
alternating 3rd and 1st person fashion as young
Jody Baxter and his family struggle to make end’s
meat within the rough and tough area of northern
Florida on their homestead called Baxter Island.
Throughout the novel, Jody longs for a pet of his
own, lusting for a companion that could fill the
empty voids of his heart as a sibling would, and as
he watched his best friend, Fodder-Wing, frolic
with the many animals that he had captured and
called his own, the want became greater. In Jody’s
favor, however, after almost losing his father,
Penny Baxter, to the venomous bite of a rattler
snake, he discovers a young fawn in which, with his
father’s persuasion, was able sway his mother, Ory,
into letting him keep and raise the yearling
himself. The adventures that Jody shares with the
young buck, Flag, teaches him about the hardships
of growing up and the responsibility that it takes
to be a man. In the end, when Jody has to decide
the fate of his beloved, Flag, he learns what it truly
takes to be a man.
Jody Baxter
Main and Secondary
Characters
Only surviving child of Penny and Ory Baxter; At
the age of 12-years-old, Jody longs for the
companionship of a sibling, and as a suffice, he takes
in a yearling that fills the emptiness that he feels.
Ory Baxter
Wife of Penny Baxter, Ory is as strong-willed and
blunt-headed as any women. Through everything
Flag
she has gone through, including the loss of multiple
The yearling, left motherless, was taken in by Jody children, her emotions are that of a rock.
Baxter, who raised the young buck as if he was his
own child.
Ezra “Penny” Baxter
Small in size, Penny is able to outwit and out hunt
the greatest of men and animals alike. This strong
willed father of Jody Baxter, is often referred as to
being soft hearted; that he would forgive the Devil
himself.
Oliver Hutto
Oliver is a sailor that has many tales to tell, and
despite his many journey’s, he holds to a single
girl, Twink Weatherby, in which he continuously
battles with Lem Forester for her.
Fodder-wing Forester
Jody Baxter’s best friend. Cursed with a crippled
body and a naïve mind, Fodder-wing is the gentlest
The Foresters
of the Foresters, and has a way with nature’s animals
This robust family is one of the greatest forces to be that every man and boy despises.
reckoned with. They make hellish enemies – they
are the sort of family that people despise because of
their free-lance lifestyle, yet adored because they are
the loyalist of friends.
Facing the death of loved ones:
The story explores how Jody the death of his
sick father and how he has to confront the
deaths of his best friend, Fodder-wing, and
his yearling, Flag.
Man vs. Nature:
The story often hits on the importance that
man must respect nature, and must come
to understand it in order to live
harmoniously.
Coming of age and self-discovery:
The story explores the growth and change
of Jody and his own discovery of the
hardships of life and acceptance of the
inevitable death of loved ones.
Struggling for a better life:
A strong message is that even though
every person wants a happy life, leading a
good life isn’t easy. However, people
should persevere and strive for what they
want, despite the setbacks.
Common
Themes
Developing
a
father-son
relationship: Family bonds are
explored, and how a father can help his
son learn the most important lessons in
life.
 Appeals to the sense of growing up, and that sense
of loss one feels as they realize what life is all about
(the feeling of nostalgia).
 The Yearling is easy to relate to. Well, not in the sense
the everyone knows what it is like to go through the
troubles of the 1800s, but it is relatable because
everyone has experienced one form of loss or another
during their lifetime so it is easy to relate with Jody and
feel what he feels as he experiences the trials of life.
The amount of details the author puts into
describing the wilderness, the characters,
and the feelings of the characters.
Plot line is easy to follow.
Conflicts of the novel fit in well
with the plot-line
Hard to understand the dialogue at
times.
Ending was too predictable.
A lot of things were included that were not
really necessary.
Too simplistic.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m5RpmRqDjZg&NR=1
 http://www.bookrags.com/biography/marjorie-
kinnan-rawlings
 http://www.bookrags.com/biography/marjoriekinnan-rawlings-aya/
 http://www.penguinreaders.com/pdf/downloads/par/l
evel3/TN-TheYearling.pdf