Sounder

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Sounder
Author	William H. Armstrong
Cover artist	James Ransome
Country	Canada
Language	English
Genre(s)	Children's
Publisher	HarperTrophy
Publication date	1969
Media type	print (hardback & paperback)
Pages	116 pp
ISBN	0-06-440020-4
Followed by	Sour Land, The MacLeod Place

Sounder is a young adult novel by William H. Armstrong. It is the story of an African-American boy living with his sharecropper family in Depression-era Louisiana. Although the family's difficulties increase when the father is imprisoned for stealing pig meat and chicken, the boy still hungers for an education.

Sounder won the Newbery Award in 1970, and was made in to a major motion picture in 1972.

[edit] Plot summary

Sounder is based on a true story. The main character, the family's eldest son, is simply named boy. His father is a sharecropper, and works hard for very little money. His mother tries hard to make the best out of what little food they have. The "Sounder" of the title is the father's devoted hunting coon dog (a mixture of Georgia redbone hound and bulldog), named for his loud voice. Sounder is badly injured when shot by a shotgun while he chases the men who take his master away.

When the family hears that the father is being transferred to another prison in the South, they can no longer visit him because no one will tell them where he's been taken. The boy goes looking for his father's work crew, against his mother's objections. He does not find his father, but he sees a group of convicts working hard in the sun behind a fence. A guard throws a piece of iron at him, injuring his hands, but he escapes without further injury.

On the way home, the boy saw a man throwing a book away and, since he's always wanted an education, he picks up the book. He then sees students running out of a school building. A teacher at the school treats his injury and offers to let the boy live with him so he can attend the school and get an education. The boy learns a lot from the teacher and later he realizes his education has given him a new perspective to view the world around him.

There are numerous cultural insights of the sharecropper community depicted. The novel is written in a Southern dialect. In the home stories are told by the mother to the children verbally. The mother, being illiterate, often repeats the same biblical stories to her children. The irony of the main characters having no specific names is also significant to the author's tone throughout the novel.

The theme of education being of higher value is apparent near the end of the novel. The boy realizes he reaches a point where he can correct his mother when she explains her reasoning of the "dog days" of summer. He chooses to refrain from exposing her error and continues to pursue his education. The old teacher is depicted as a kind, old man who has a broad knowledge of written works and has high emotional intelligence. Lastly, the boy had grown emotionally from his previous younger years when he predicts Sounder's oncoming death and chooses to make preparations in advance.

[edit] Film

In 1972, Sounder was made into a film starring Cicely Tyson, Paul Winfield, Kevin Hooks, Carmen Mathews, Taj Mahal, and Eric Hooks. It was written by Lonne Elder III and directed by Martin Ritt.

Academy Award Nominations

• Best picture - *

Best Actor Paul Winfield

• Best Actress - Cicely Tyson
• Best Adapted Screenplay

In 2003, ABC's Wonderful World of Disney aired a new film adaptation, reuniting two actors from the original. Kevin Hooks directed and Paul Winfield played the role of the teacher. (Winfield and Hooks played father and son, respectively, in the original version.)

[edit] External links

• TCM - Sounder (1972) Overview & Synopsis
• Sounder (1972) at the Internet Movie Database
• Sounder (2003) at the Internet Movie Database
• Summary/Synopsis on TheBestNotes.com