Frightful's Mountain

“The young girl’s voice brought back images of the one mountain among thousands of mountains, the one hemlock tree among millions of trees—and Sam.”

Similar versions of this quote recur throughout the novel to highlight the main conflict: Frightful’s struggle between following her instincts and her desire to return to Sam. The repetition emphasizes this constant inner struggle and creates a common thread throughout Frightful’s various movements in the weeks and months after she is separated from Sam.

“Frightful had arrived in perfect peregrine habitat. She was only vaguely aware of this. Almost her whole life had been spent with Sam on a mountain. Sam and his forest and abandoned meadow were her habitat.”

In delivering Frightful to a “perfect peregrine habitat,” George highlights how atypical Frightful’s upbringing in Sam’s mountaintop home was. Frightful does not know the way of life of her kind and needs to learn the natural order of things away from Sam.

“Mole and Frightful went hunting almost every day. When they had harvested the most conspicuous and abundant animals of the farm fields, Mole led her to more distant fields. The animals they left behind would breed, and their offspring would breed, until there were too many for their food supply. Then the two hunters would return and adjust the numbers again.”

Mole and Frightful make an unlikely team, but hunting with Mole allows Frightful to continue hunting in the way she learned to do with Sam. George highlights the way both bird and dog know when to move on to a new hunting ground to keep food supplies abundant and maintain balance in nature. Humans can learn from their example of choosing to leave an area to naturally reproduce, rather than depleting its resources. Frightful brings value to her environment as she controls, but does not deplete, other animal populations.

“Lady faced the wind, lifted her wings, and was airborne. She, too, fell back. She sat on her heels. Something new and wonderful had happened to her. She had been in the air with space between herself and the cliff. She and the wind had managed this wonder, which had changed her sense of who she was. She was a bird. She must fly.”

George captures the sensation of first flight from a bird’s point of view by describing the step-by-step process by which Lady, Drum, and Duchess learn to fly. Though accidental, Lady’s first flight awakens an instinct within her that, once experienced, she cannot ignore. This quote relates to the instinct motif and demonstrates the narrative’s incorporation of facts about falcons.

“There were three signals she must feel: the fitness of her body, the rightness of the environment, and the chill of the atmosphere. She felt none of these.”

George creates conflict and drama when Frightful fails to understand that she must migrate. This is an example of when Frightful’s upbringing by Sam makes her unable to connect with her wild instincts. She must learn to be wild.

“Frightful knew the man. One eye was brown, and the other eye was blue. He had a condor face. This was the man who had taken her from her perch beside Sam’s hemlock tree. This was Bate.” 

As Frightful recognizes Bate as the man who took her away from Sam, this plot detail provides continuity between Frightful’s Mountain and the previous novel in the series, On the Far Side of the Mountain. George also registers Frightful’s suspicion of Bate by Frightful’s comparison of him with a condor, a type of vulture.

“First it was DDT and other pesticides that killed the great peregrines, he mused. Now it’s death on utility poles.” 

Jon Wood’s thoughts call attention to humanmade threats to birds of prey. George continues to highlight these dangers throughout the novel, subtly encouraging readers to take action to preserve falcons. She suggests that threats such as DDT and utility poles can be eliminated, if only people are willing to make a change.

“‘I wish you could talk,’ she said. ‘I think you have a destiny to fulfill. That’s it,’ she said softly. ‘I believe I’ve just spoken your name. You are Destiny.’”

Susan Wood’s decision to give Frightful the name “Destiny” prefigures the change that Frightful undergoes in the novel, as she drifts away from Sam and toward fulfilling her destiny as a falcon in the wild.

“The more she scraped, the more content she became with her aerie, and the more Duchess, Lady, and Drum returned to her visual mind. That night she slept on her breast. She had never done that before.”

This quote describes how Frightful changes as her wild falcon instincts grow stronger and she takes to her new life in an aerie. It also shows her identifying with her kind more than she has up till now.

“‘I hope she mates,’ Sam said. ‘We sure need peregrine falcons. They’re so important in the balance of nature.’”

Sam’s words showcase his selflessness and deep appreciation for nature. Even though he would prefer to keep Frightful at his mountain home, he recognizes that it would be better for Frightful and for nature in general if Frightful is able to reproduce. This quote also shows Sam’s understanding of The Balance of Nature.

“She had lived on ducks and shorebirds, and she had ingested DDT. Banned by the U.S. Congress because it killed millions of birds, fish, and amphibians after World War II, the insecticide called DDT was still being used in South America. Lady got her share of the poison when she ate the birds who had eaten the DDT-killed insects in Chile. Each winter she would accumulate more of the poison in her body tissues.”

George details the problems caused by DDT and its ripple effect on wildlife. In doing so, she calls attention to ways that human actions can endanger plants and animals. DDT was used extensively by the US military during World War II, and though the narrative doesn’t explore that topic in depth, this reference to the war indirectly highlights the idea of human destructiveness.

“Parents confessed to strangers and each other that they never had the least interest in falcons until their children told them about the peregrines of the Delhi Bridge. They were furious that the state wouldn’t stop work until the little birds got on wing.”

When the children of Delhi organize a parade to protest the work on the Delhi Bridge and raise awareness about Frightful nesting there, their actions have an impact on others, including their parents. This example shows the influence children can have on a community and supports the theme of The Capability of Young People.

“Frightful cocked her head and stood up. One egg was vibrating. Inside, the chick’s neck was twitching spasmodically, then its little body stiffened. A sharp egg tooth on the top of its beak pierced the inner membrane, and its nostrils pushed into the pocket of air at the top of the egg. The chick’s lungs filled. It breathed.”

This detailed description of the beginning of the egg-hatching process educates readers while maintaining the drama of the moment. The use of specific detail allows the reader to visualize the process and adds excitement.

“‘Where are you, Frightful?’ he called. ‘Your eyas is very hungry. I don’t want to feed her. She will imprint on me and think she’s a person. Then she will never mate with her kind.’”

Sam faces a problem as he waits for Frightful to find Oksi’s box on his mountain. His desire to do what’s best for nature is tested as he must choose between keeping Oksi alive and risking her imprinting on him. Sam’s solution of disguising himself as a chicken to feed Oksi showcases his deep commitment to respecting nature.

“Frightful had completely panicked when Sam reached under her in the thunderous storm. She flew into the drenching rain and gained altitude, ready to strike him with all the force of her speeding body.”

Frightful and Sam’s bond is strong—but when tested, Frightful’s instincts are stronger. When Sam takes Oksi to relocate her, Frightful would attack Sam if given the chance. This incident shows Frightful’s growing connection to her wild instincts and suggests that while humans and animals can form bonds, those bonds cannot fully suppress an animal’s wildness.

“Mole sniffed. Rising strong and sweet from Sam’s hand were informative scents. They told Mole that Sam was a young adolescent, nonviolent, and that he liked wild foods. Mole also learned that Sam was related to Alice and that he lived in a hemlock tree. Mole finally decided he liked what he smelled and licked Sam’s hand.”

Through Mole’s point of view, George shows the steps that lead to closeness between humans and animals. As Mole gets to know Sam through his scent, he starts to feel at ease around him. George suggests that animals can sense a person’s trustworthiness and temperament. This quote relates to the motif regarding human and animal connection.

“Sean and Henry stared at each other. They had just seen a boy who could talk to peregrine eyases. They knew he was the one person in the world who should have the little birds. And they knew there was no way they could arrange this.”

Sam’s ability to communicate with Frightful and her young is remarkable, as shown by police officers’ reactions. Sam’s knowledge of falcons and his humble desire to learn through observation are what led him to this point of being able to “talk” with Frightful’s eyases. Respect for nature is a theme in all three novels in the series, and Sam is the theme’s central purveyor.

“‘We’re not free to do anything but what we did,’ Sean answered, watching with no little longing the young man who walked to his own inner music.”

This description of Sam from Officer Sean’s point of view highlights the way Sam stands out from other people because he is at peace with himself and happy with his unconventional wilderness lifestyle. The description of Sam walking to his “own inner music” is a metaphorical way of describing Sam’s unique aura of contented independence.

“‘You are getting wilder, Frightful,’ he said. ‘The bond between us is breaking down. That’s good. Good for you, sad for me.’”

Even though Frightful’s becoming increasingly wild means a loosening of her bond with Sam, Sam welcomes the change, recognizing that it is best for her and nature in general. When Sam says, “Good for you, sad for me,” his words indirectly reinforce an enduring separation between humans and animals; human desires are sometimes incompatible with what is healthiest for an ecosystem and its fauna. Therein lies a core tension in the connection between humans and animals.

“Sam couldn’t speak. ‘Now we have a son and a daughter,’ Bando said, putting his hand on Sam’s shoulder. ‘Those are Zella’s words.’ Sam ran his fingers through his hair, trying to take in the wonder of having a namesake.”

Bando and Zella’s decision to name their daughter Samantha as a way of honoring Sam reveals their special bond with Sam and their respect for him. Although Bando and Zella feature sparingly in Frightful’s Mountain compared with their roles in the earlier novels, their narrative presence speaks to the sense of community Sam has built on his mountain.

“Although she had never been taught this, Frightful was following ancient peregrine instincts. She was hacking her daughter—bringing her food when she could not catch her own. Four miles away, on the side of Palmer Hill, Perry Knowlton was doing the same thing for Blue Bill and Screamer.”

The instinct motif reappears as Frightful develops the natural knowledge of how to help Oksi fly and gain independence. At the same time, humans can replicate this process, as demonstrated through Perry Knowlton’s work. Although keeping birds wild is best, George shows that human intervention can help improve the prospects of an endangered species.

“She turned her head slowly as she took a bearing on the sun’s rays. She fixed on a longitude between ninety and seventy degrees. After many takes, the direction was indelibly printed on her brain.”

George provides information about the inner working of falcon instinct, such as the way Frightful knows how and when to migrate. These facts encourage a sense of wonder toward nature while educating the reader. George presents science seamlessly by incorporating it into the plot rather than simply listing facts the way a textbook does.

“The tor top was speckled with men and women who came to Hook Mountain in the autumn to count the birds of prey. Each year these people, like thousands of others, tallied raptors along the four migratory flyways in North America—the Atlantic, Mississippi, Central, and Pacific flyways. They counted because the birds of prey were losing ground in the fight for survival. By comparing their numbers each year, the counters could tell whether or not their efforts to ban pesticides and pass laws protecting the birds were working.”

As Frightful flies on her migratory path south, the narrator highlights people who care for birds of prey and devote time each year to checking their numbers to see if they are increasing or decreasing. Although the remarks are only brief, they expose readers to ideas and groups they likely have not encountered before.