Chapter Seven Synopsis of Discussion

Week of August 19, 2007

Chapter 7 – Runaway Fawn

Another chapter that doesn’t seem to go with the book.
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Miss Hickory meets her friend, Fawn, as he is on his way back to his home in the cellar hole after his great adventure. "The first snow was so light that it had not yet covered all of the floor of the forest."

This is another one of those aside stories that does not have much to do with Miss Hickory's story.
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I agree with you. Why was this chapter included in the Miss Hickory story? Wouldn't it be disturbing for a youngster to read? Unlike Hitty, this book seems to be a bit disjointed.
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I thought it a bit disturbing too--since the poor fawn's mother gets shot!
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Did the author run out of ideas for things Miss Hickory was busy doing? Is that why she has "extra" material in the book? Maybe some Hittygirls can come up with new chapters containing Miss Hickory stories – hopefully, some happier ideas that could substitute for the last two chapters in the book!
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I think maybe that this chapter and the previous chapter was just to introduce characters that may have more to do in the next part of the book. I feel bad for poor Fawn, losing his mom to the hunter.
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I feel there was so much room for the author to expand on Miss Hickory's feral life that was not taken. The book seems to me to be written in haste and not well-planned. I realize that the chapters serve the purpose of introducing new characters, but their development does not really lead to anything. Were I doing this story, Miss Hickory would have had a number of adventures arising from her drastic change in lifestyle. I know my Miss Hickory has been having conniptions over her primitive living arrangement!
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I agree--there should have been more of her daily life! The chapters did introduce new characters, but I think that could have been done in two paragraphs each, leaving more Miss Hickory time. It's not like she interacts with them all that much.
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I think we are probably reading Miss Hickory with different eyes than children who didn't know Hitty would. Remember, Bambi came out in 1942 and is similar to Fawn's plight, and Miss Hickory was published in 1948. There was also a lot of writing of animals with human characteristics at that time, which this book does.

I think she was perhaps focusing more on nature and seasons than we do. It feels more as if we just see some of what is going on in the country, without focusing on any of it for too long. Miss Hickory seems to move from "live doll" in the beginning toward observing nature, to becoming a real part of nature in the end. We want our Miss Hickories to settle comfortably in their corncob houses, but the author gives "life" to the apple twig that is her body, even without the head. I've cheated and gone through the whole book, so that how it seems to me.
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I think she is absolutely focusing more on nature and the nature of things in this book, hence the ending, which I will not discuss for those not finished.
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I have always hated the beginning of "Bambi". Did Walt Disney have a really dysfunctional relationship with his mother? My goodness, but I would not let my kids watch several of his movies! Dumbo is one of the worst stories ever!

As nature goes, no apple twig would still have any viable sap to be a scion after 2+ years as a doll either. I read the book through when I first got it, and I enjoyed her character as she appears toward the beginning, but she seems to become less and less defined as the story moves on. I cannot really fathom the author's final message. It is too soon to discuss the Christmas chapter, but that is odd as well.
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I can't agree with you more! I still remember seeing Bambi (I think I was 3) and the awful feelings I had when leaving the theater.

I have read to the end and reread several of the chapters looking for something more to make me like it better. For me, the saving grace of this disjointed book has been the fun projects. Thank you, Julie, for coming up with the ideas.
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It is a bit disjointed--and reading it as a child, I don't remember it being so. I think it must be that now I am reading it more analytically than I would have before.
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I almost skipped the Fawn chapter, I just knew it was going to end sadly. The thought of Bambi makes me ill even today. I wish I had never seen the movie and I never allowed my children to watch it. I'm not so sure if I like this book or not. Did this author ever write any other books? The chapter projects are fun and even if I don't do the one in the book I try to find something for Miss Hickory to do. Instead of making skates today we picked moss from trees.

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