Stone Fox

“It happens when a person gives up. Gives up on life. For whatever reason. Starts up here in the mind first; then it spreads to the body. It’s a real sickness, all right. And there’s no cure except in the person’s own mind. I’m sorry, child, but it appears that your grandfather just doesn’t want to live anymore.”

Doc Smith says the above to Little Willy after Grandfather refuses to leave his bed. This passage might be an attempt to portray depression. Doc Smith explains what is occurring to Little Willy and offers to let him stay with her while his grandfather is ill. Ironically, Doc Smith seems to give up on Grandfather almost immediately after diagnosing him. Little Willy thus takes on the responsibility of getting his grandfather to want to live again.

“I’ll find out. I’ll find out what’s wrong and make it better. You’ll see. I’ll make Grandfather want to live again.”

The sentence above is Little Willy’s vow to help cure his grandfather. This is also the beginning of Little Willy’s bildungsroman. Grandfather’s illness and Little Willy’s solemn promise to help heal him is the catalyst for the proceeding events. It likewise foreshadows how Willy will take responsibility for saving the entire farm.

“A ten-year old boy cannot run a farm. But you can’t tell a ten-year-old boy that. Especially a boy like little Willy.”

The narrator speaks to how impossible it is for a little boy to run a farm on his own. Despite Little Willy being the protagonist of the novel and the hero of the story, this sentence draws attention to the injustice of Willy having to take on the responsibility of saving the farm at all. His age immediately calls into question the institutional systems in place that let Little Willy and his family fall through the cracks.

“Hadn’t Grandfather been overly concerned about the crop this year? Hadn’t he insisted that every square inch of land be planted? Hadn’t he gotten up in the middle of the night to check the irrigation? ‘Gonna be our best ever, Willy’ he had said. And he had said it over and over again.”

Grandfather has been hiding a great deal from Little Willy. The quote above foreshadows the eventual reveal that Grandfather has failed to pay their taxes. This passage also implies that their farm may have been struggling with finances for a long while.

“He put his arms around the dog’s strong neck and held her tightly. ‘I love you, Searchlight.’ And Searchlight understood, for she had heard those words many times before.”

The above passage speaks to the strong bond between Searchlight and Little Willy. Willy and Searchlight adore each other, and they have an almost telepathic connection. Searchlight seems to understand what Willy and the farm need, when they need it; she is always willing to help them.

“Grandfather kept his money in a strongbox under the boards in the corner of his bedroom. Little Willy got the box out and opened it. It was empty! Except for some letters that little Willy didn’t bother to read.”

The above passage foreshadows the reveal that Grandfather has failed to pay taxes. Despite how close Grandfather and Willy are, Grandfather still hides the actual state of their finances. Little Willy’s college fund is secreted away in a bank as well; the economics of the farm exists in a strange space of public secrecy.

“A friend of Grandfather’s offered to help, but little Willy said no. ‘Don’t accept help unless you can pay for it,’ Grandfather had always said. ‘Especially from friends.’”

The theme of helplessness appears in the passage above. Despite an offering of help, Willy turns it down after remembering Grandfather’s advice. Grandfather and his opinions continue to cast a shadow over the entirety of the story; despite his poor decisions in the past, Willy continues to listen to him. Grandfather’s unwillingness to ask for help ultimately leaves Willy and Searchlight almost entirely helpless.

“She walked over and stood in front of the plow. In her mouth was the harness she wore during the winter when she pulled the snow sled.”

The above passage speaks to Searchlight and Willy’s bond. They are both intimately linked and have an almost telepathic connection. Searchlight is willing to put in an infinite amount of hard work and physical labor to save Willy and the farm.

“Grandfather wanted little Willy to go to college and become educated. All little Willy wanted to do was grow potatoes, but he respected his grandfather enough to do whatever he said.”

There is a mutual respect and adoration between Grandfather and Willy. Grandfather wants Little Willy to go to college and live a better life than the one he has had. By the end of the novel, Willy loses his college fund, Searchlight, and his childhood innocence.

“At the first stroke of six, Searchlight lunged forward with such force that little Willy was almost thrown from the sled. Straight down Main Street they went, the sled’s runners barely touching the snow. They were one big blur as they turned right onto North Road. And they were almost out of town before the church clock became silent again.”

Despite her age, Searchlight continues to perform labor and pull Willy around town on a sled. Searchlight knows the path intimately well, and this later gives them both a huge advantage in the race. Both Searchlight and Little Willy’s familiarity with the racetrack allows them to gain the lead.

“She had run this race a hundred times before, and she knew the whereabouts of every fallen tree and hidden gully. This enabled her to travel at tremendous speed even though it was getting dark and more dangerous.”

The above passage is similar to previous quote. Searchlight and Willy’s comfort in their town is insidious. Though they are familiar in their home, they nonetheless must be independent and find solutions to problems that they should never have had to encounter in the first place.

“It was a race all right. A race against time. A race against themselves. A race they always won.”

The above quote once again foreshadows the ending of the novel. In an example of dramatic irony, Little Willy does end up winning the dogsled race, but at the cost of Searchlight’s life. Despite their previous wins against time, it seems that ultimately, they are unable to win the race against age and the inevitable and eventual loss of childhood innocence.

“Little Willy unhitched Searchlight, and then both of them tumbled over onto their backs in the snow and stared up at the moon. Searchlight had her head and one paw on little Willy’s chest and was licking the underside of his chin. Little Willy had a hold of Searchlight’s ear, and he was grinning.”

Little Willy and Searchlight are extremely close; the author establishes their bond throughout the entirety of the novel. Searchlight and Little Willy are still full of hope, finding joy in each other despite their struggle to keep the farm and Grandfather in good standing.

“Grandfather had always said, ‘Where there’s a will, there’s a way.’ Little Willy had the will. Now all he had to do was find the way.”

This is yet another example of Grandfather’s opinions and lessons to Willy. Though Grandfather appears to be full of wisdom, his decisions are the primary reasons why the farm ends up going under. This opinion, though extremely idealistic, is patently untrue. Grandfather loses his will and forces Willy to muddle his way through the real world.

“It was an open race—any number of dogs could be entered. Even one. The race covered ten miles of snow-covered countryside, starting and ending on Main Street right in front of the old church. There was a cash prize for the winner. The amount varied from year to year. This year it just happened to be five hundred dollars.”

In an extremely timely twist of fate, the race offers up the exact amount of money that Grandfather and Little Willy need to pay their taxes. Through sheer luck, Willy is able to try and earn the money to save their farm. It is luck rather than any institutional help that helps Willy.

“Me and Searchlight are gonna win that five hundred dollars, Mr. Mayor. You’ll see. Everybody’ll see.”

Little Willy is absolutely stubborn and desperate to save their farm. He sees him and Searchlight as a singular unit. They would have been unable to do so without the other.

“Five miles of the race he traveled every day and knew with his eyes closed. The last five miles were back into town along South Road, which was mostly straight and flat. It’s speed that would count here, and with the lead he knew he could get in the first five miles, little Willy was sure he could win.”

Little Willy’s certainty of his win is one of childish hope. His connection to the town and familiarity with the racetrack gives him a boost of confidence that he loses later. This echoes Willy momentary lapse in the future, where he forgets to look behind him and notice Stone Fox catching up with him.

“[Stone Fox’s] tribe, the Shoshone, who were peaceful seed gatherers, had been forced to leave Utah and settle on a reservation in Wyoming with another tribe called the Arapaho. Stone Fox’s dream was for his people to return to their homeland. Stone Fox was using the money he won from racing to simply buy the land back. He had already purchased four farms and over two hundred acres.”

This crucial moment in the text speaks to Stone Fox’s motivations throughout the novel. Little Willy and Searchlight are not the only ones who are overcoming a struggle and who must to race due to the inaccessibility of actual help and assistance. This paragraph also highlights the true scale of Stone Fox’s sacrifice at the end of the novel.

“At the edge of their property he stopped the sled for a moment and looked back at the farmhouse. The roof was covered with freshly fallen snow. A trail of smoke escaped from the stone chimney. The jagged peaks of the Teton Mountains shot up in the background toward the clear blue sky overhead. ‘Yes, sir,’ he remembered Grandfather saying. ‘There are somethings in this world worth dying for.’”

This moment of peace reminds Little Willy what it is that he is working for. After an entire novel’s worth of struggle, hard work, and sacrifice, Little Willy is still completely in love with his town, farm, and life. Despite the repeated lack of help, Willy is still utterly adoring of the world around him. The quote also characterizes Grandfather, who has decided to die in the midst of the farm’s imminent loss.

“Grandfather was better. Tears of joy rolled down little Willy’s smiling face. Everything was going to be all right.”

Grandfather sits up for the first time in ages; Willy has succeeded in giving Grandfather something to live for. Grandfather encourages Willy to keep racing but has been utterly unable to help Willy at all throughout the novel thus far.

“She was a hundred feet from the finish line when her heart burst. She died instantly. There was no suffering.”

Searchlight dies at the end of the story, mere feet from the finish line. In a moment of complete sacrifice, Searchlight gives her life for Willy, Grandfather, and their farm. Her death symbolizes the death of Little Willy’s childhood innocence.

“Little Willy squeezed Searchlight with all his might. ‘You did real good, girl. Real good. I’m real proud of you. You rest now. Just rest.’ Little Willy began to brush the snow off Searchlight’s back.”

Little Willy is tender with Searchlight’s body. This moment contrasts drastically with Willy and Searchlight’s previous interactions. Though he still holds her, he speaks to her the way an older person might to a loved one. Willy is mature and surprisingly collected. Little Willy is no longer a child.

Stone Fox spoke. ‘Anyone crosses this line—I shoot.’”

Stone Fox breaks his vow of silence to protect Willy. By doing this, Stone Fox allows Little Willy to win the race and save the farm. Stone Fox sacrifices a great deal of his own personal morals and goals in order to help Little Willy; apart from Searchlight, no character does the same for him.