This Is Jody's Fawn Class 8 NCERT - Notes, Summary and Solutions

Detailed Story Summary

The narrative begins in the aftermath of a crisis: Jody's father, Penny Baxter, is bitten by a venomous rattlesnake. To extract the poison and save Penny's life, the family kills a doe to use her heart and liver as a home remedy. While Penny recovers, Jody is deeply disturbed by the thought of the doe's young fawn, left motherless and vulnerable in the forest. Showing maturity beyond his years, Jody feels a moral responsibility to rescue the fawn, arguing that leaving it to starve would be highly ungrateful. He convinces his father, and with the support of Doc Wilson and his mother, Jody sets off into the forest with Mill-wheel. After a diligent search, Jody finds the fawn, wins its trust through gentle gestures, and carefully carries it home, where he feeds it his own share of milk.

Key Literary Themes and Values

Empathy and Compassion

Jody feels the pain of the orphaned fawn and cannot rest until he makes amends, illustrating the importance of recognizing the suffering of other living creatures.

Responsibility toward Nature

Since humans took the doe's life to save a human life, Jody teaches us that we carry a ethical duty to protect the surviving elements of nature that we disrupt.

Familial Understanding

Penny's willingness to listen to Jody and the mother's eventual concession show how families can foster values of kindness in children through open communication.

Jody's Journey of Determination

1. Step 1: The Awakening of Empathy — Jody cannot sleep because his mind is occupied by the image of the helpless, hungry fawn in the deep forest.
2. Step 2: Persuading the Elders — Jody presents logical, moral arguments to his father, Penny, and wins his approval. He then addresses his mother's practical concerns by offering to share his own food.
3. Step 3: The Forest Search — He travels deep into the woods, insisting on searching on foot so he does not scare the fawn, showing immense bravery and care.
4. Step 4: Nurturing and Bonding — Once found, Jody carries the fawn himself and feeds it patiently, establishing a lifetime bond of trust.

How to Score High in Value-Based Questions

CBSE Class 8 English papers frequently feature value-based questions from 'This Is Jody's Fawn'. When answering, do not just summarize the plot. Instead, connect Jody's actions directly to core values like ecological balance, moral obligation, and gratitude. Always use quotes or instances from the text—such as Doc Wilson saying, 'Nothing in the world comes quite free'—to anchor your analytical arguments and impress your examiners.

Practice Questions with Solutions

• Q: Why did Penny Baxter allow Jody to bring the fawn home?
  A: Step 1: Analyze Penny's situation. He had just survived a deadly rattlesnake bite because of the doe's sacrifice.
  Step 2: Connect this to his moral values. Penny felt that leaving the doe's baby to starve would be extremely ungrateful.
  Final answer: Penny Baxter allowed Jody to bring the fawn home because he felt a deep sense of gratitude. He agreed with Jody that it would be highly ungrateful and heartless to leave the helpless fawn to starve in the forest after they had killed its mother to save his life.

• Q: How did Jody's mother react when he suggested bringing the fawn home, and why?
  A: Step 1: Describe her immediate physical reaction. She gasped and held the coffee pot suspended in mid-air.
  Step 2: Explain her reasoning. Her reaction was due to surprise and worry over their poor financial state, as they did not have extra food.
  Final answer: Jody's mother was shocked and gasped when he suggested bringing the fawn home. She was worried because they were financially constrained and had nothing to feed it. She only agreed when Jody offered to sacrifice his own share of milk for the fawn and Doc Wilson supported him.

• Q: How did Jody feed the fawn once they reached home?
  A: Step 1: Mention what food was available (milk).
  Step 2: Describe the technique Jody used since the fawn did not know how to drink from a gourd.
  Final answer: Jody poured milk into a small gourd, but the fawn butt it greedily and did not know how to drink. Jody then dipped his fingers in the milk and thrust them into the fawn's soft, wet mouth. He repeated this process patiently until the fawn learned to drink the milk directly from the container.

• Q: What is the significance of Doc Wilson's remark, 'Nothing in the world comes quite free'?
  A: Step 1: Interpret the context of the quote. It was said to support Jody's plea to rescue the fawn.
  Step 2: Relate it to the larger theme of nature and compensation.
  Final answer: Doc Wilson's remark means that every action has a cost. Since the family took the life of the doe to save Penny, they owed a debt to nature. Rescuing and raising the orphaned fawn was the minimum price they had to pay to balance their moral ledger.

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