Ready Reference Treatise: Sounder

By Raja Sharma

“Sounder” by William H. Armstrong was first published in 1969. It is a young adult novel. The story revolves around an African-American boy who happens to be living with his sharecropper family.

As the time passes, the family gets into more difficulties because of the imprisonment of the father. He was caught stealing ham from work. The boy continues to maintain strong desire for an education.

The characterization is quite unique in the story because ‘Sounder’ is the name of a dog, and Sounder is the only character name that has been used in the book by the author. Several other characters in the book are referred to by their relationships or their roles that they have in the present story.

Ready Reference Treatise: Sounder
Copyright
Chapter One: Introduction
Chapter Two: Plot Overview
Chapter Three: Characters
Chapter Four: Complete Summary
Chapter Five: Critical Analysis

• Language: English
• Publisher: Raja Sharma
• Release date: Aug 14, 2015
• ISBN: 9781311776280

Raja Sharma

Raja Sharma is a retired college lecturer.He has taught English Literature to University students for more than two decades.His students are scattered all over the world, and it is noticeable that he is in contact with more than ninety thousand of his students.

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Ready Reference Treatise: Sounder

Copyright

Ready Reference Treatise: Sounder

Raja Sharma

Copyright@2015 Raja Sharma

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Chapter One: Introduction

Sounder by William H. Armstrong was first published in 1969. It is a young adult novel. The story revolves around an African-American boy who happens to be living with his sharecropper family.

As the time passes, the family gets into more difficulties because of the imprisonment of the father. He was caught stealing ham from work. The boy continues to maintain strong desire for an education.

The characterization is quite unique in the story because ‘Sounder’ is the name of a dog, and Sounder is the only character name that has been used in the book by the author. Several other characters in the book are referred to by their relationships or their roles that they have in the present story.

The setting of the story is also ambiguous because there is no particular name of the place mentioned in the story. The only information that the boy gets is that his father may be in Bartow or Gilmer counties, but it has not been specified by the author where the boy actually lives.

The boy is sure that his father would not be sent out of the state, and it is mentioned that the ground freezes, the reader can easily assume that the boy and his family live in the counties around northern Georgia or northwestern South Carolina.

Sounder was a highly successful book, and it was the winner of the Newbery Award in the year 1970. In 1972, the book was adapted into a highly successful movie.

It is said that the author has drawn largely from his own life. The author had lost his wife when their three children were quite young. After the death of the mother, the children were burdened with additional responsibilities.

Most of the themes in the novel seem to have picked from the author’s own life and his personal