Big Red

Jim Kjelgaard authored more than 40 novels in his lifetime. His most famous and successful publication was his 1945 young adult adventure novel, Big Red. The protagonist Danny Pickett’s adventures in the Wintapi wilderness echo Kjelgaard’s upbringing on “a Pennsylvania mountain farm” (256) where he lived with his parents and siblings. From a young age, Kjelgaard developed a keen understanding of, and appreciation for, his childhood Black Forest environment, which is reflected in novels like Big Red. Like Danny, Kjelgaard also had a close relationship with his father, who taught him how to run trap lines, dig ditches, pitch hay, and run the “transit for the county surveyor” (257). Kjelgaard’s descriptions in the source text’s Afterword, “Jim Kjelgaard on Jim Kjelgaard,” place precedence on paternal and familial relationships. These dynamics feature heavily in Big Red and contribute to Danny’s coming-of-age journey.

Kjelgaard’s love for reading and writing developed in childhood and adolescence. Although Kjelgaard didn’t have a traditional academic education, the source text’s Afterword remarks upon Kjelgaard’s youthful appetite for literature. He “read everything he could get his hands on,” a pastime which fostered his lifelong desire “to become a writer” (257). His writing career began with his publications of outdoor fiction. In turn, Holiday House commissioned him to write children’s literature, a challenge that Kjelgaard eagerly accepted. Kjelgaard’s first novels, Forest Patrol and Rebel Siege launched his career as a writer “of historical fiction for young people” (260). Big Red was his third novel, and solidified his reputation in the industry and widened his fan base.

Big Red was originally published in 1945. The novel’s depictions of nature, hunting and trapping, and interspecies relationships are reflective of the time in which it was written. Like many of Kjelgaard’s adventure novels, Big Red is set in “the North American wilderness” and explores “the history of this land” (261). However, this history is filtered through a white, male perspective. Since both Kjelgaard and his protagonist are white men, their regard for and relationship with the wilderness is indicative of their patriarchal and colonial perceptions.

Danny’s life in the Wintapi wilderness is also a representation of rural life in the Eastern United States in the postwar era. Danny’s life is defined by poverty and hardship. Danny and his father, Ross Pickett, have a place to live, but they own their humble trapper’s cabin “by squatter’s rights only” (8). Danny doesn’t attend school and Ross doesn’t have regular employment. He relies upon his son to work odd jobs in order to help support the family. References to money, financial hardship, and manual labor throughout the novel underscore the difficulties of Danny and Ross’s rural lifestyle.

Ultimately, the Pickett family is able to survive in the Wintapi because of their determination and courage. They see the Wintapi as a brutal and isolating environment that constantly challenges and tests them. In order to withstand the Wintapi’s struggles, they must bury their emotions and rely upon their own fortitude and will. Such aspects of Danny’s and Ross’s characters are reflective of the historical time period and the Picketts’ environment.