Animal Imagery

Not only does the novel personify Drew, Tom's horse, as an observant philosopher (see his "Character" page); it sometimes goes in the opposite direction, with people being described through animal imagery. Just consider these examples:

• "[Ox] was an old man […] with a bent-kneed way of walking that was like a bear's" (8.43).
• "[The women in the store] all seemed to be talking to each other, their voices high-pitched and excited, kind of like chicken voices in a yard, when one hen or another had scratched up something special" (11.5).
• "Billy-Bob's smile, when he heard who Tom was, had the old crafty fox look to it" (28.2).
• "Parker was born mean […] meaner than a weasel squeezing under a henhouse door" (37.17).
• "The old man [Birdy] scrambled all over the roof, as quick and nimble-footed as a boar raccoon" (38.18).
• "[Birdy] would have got some of the mortar into his mustache, turning the hairs into a gray bristle, so that when he snorted he made Tom think of an old otter telling the young ones to get out of his way" (43.5).

Why all the animal imagery? Is the novel trying to say that people are like wild animals?

Not really. Instead, the imagery demonstrates Tom's scope of knowledge. People describe things using the vocab and the frame of reference that they have. Tom is a country bumpkin, familiar with the natural world. In the rural area he's from, it's very likely that Tom has encountered far more animals than people, so it makes sense that he would go to those images when he needs to convey a description. In that way, this imagery helps contribute to the regional feel of the novel as well.