47 pages • 1 hour read
Frightful's Mountain
A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Background
Series Context: The My Side of the Mountain Series
Frightful’s Mountain is the third novel in a series. It is preceded by My Side of the Mountain and On the Far Side of the Mountain, in both of which Sam is the protagonist. The first two novels revolve around Sam’s mountain home and adventures in the Catskill Mountains with Frightful as his companion. In Frightful’s Mountain, however, Frightful becomes the protagonist, and the novel deals primarily with the life cycle of falcons and their importance in nature. While the first two novels give Sam’s point of view, Frightful’s Mountain focuses on the falcon’s.
In My Side of the Mountain, Sam runs away from his home in New York City to survive independently in the Catskill Mountains. He realizes that survival skills are more difficult to put into practice than he anticipated and finds he has a lot to learn. When he captures a baby falcon, which he names “Frightful,” she becomes his companion and helps him hunt. To communicate with Frightful, Sam studies her body language and various calls. Together, they develop a special bond. Frightful sees Sam as her mother because he raised her and she imprinted on him as a baby bird. Although Sam’s family comes to live with him at the conclusion of My Side of the Mountain, they do not stay long, and only Alice, his sister, stays permanently.
On the Far Side of the Mountain picks up about a year after the end of My Side of the Mountain. By this point, Sam is an expert outdoorsman, easily living off the land and making what he needs. He has also learned the value of community and has a close-knit group of friends whom he sees regularly. He finds a happy balance between solitude and companionship. The biggest changes for Sam in the second novel are the presence of his younger sister, Alice, and the theft of Frightful. After Alice disappears, Sam and his friend Bando track her. Along the way, Sam is unexpectedly reunited with Frightful and has the chance to call her back to him. However, he chooses to let her go, hoping she is capable of mating and producing offspring.
Frightful’s Mountain, the third book of the series, overlaps somewhat with the ending of On the Far Side of the Mountain. The first chapter of Frightful’s Mountain summarizes Frightful’s time away from Sam after she was taken by poachers Bate and Skri and explains Frightful’s confusion when Sam chooses not to call her. Chapter 2 describes Frightful on her own in the wild. Whereas the first two books in the series are narrated by Sam, Frightful’s Mountain is told from a third-person limited point of view, focused on the perspective and experiences of Frightful. Frightful struggles between her desire to find Sam and her need to connect with her falcon instincts to survive in the wild. Over time, her instincts gradually develop, and she is able to find a healthy balance between living as a wild falcon and remembering her bond with Sam.
Historical Context: The History of Falconry
Falconry, also called “hawking,” is the training of birds of prey to hunt animals for human consumption. Falconry may have originated in Mongolia in 6000 BC or in Arabia 8,000 to 10,0000 years ago. The Arab agent Skri, who is featured in both On the Far Side of the Mountain and Frightful’s Mountain, is likely Jean Craighead George’s way of acknowledging falconry’s rich history in the Middle East.
Falconry became a popular sport for royalty in Europe throughout the Middle Ages and served as a status symbol. Laws of Ownership emerged in the 1600s, declaring that one’s social rank determined what type of bird one could fly. Falconry declined in popularity in the 1800s with the clearing of land for agriculture and the waning of the aristocracy.
In North America, interest in falconry arose around the turn of the 20th century. Falcons, and especially peregrine falcons, were first bred in captivity in the 1960s and 1970s in response to the decline in their numbers due to the pesticide DDT. Falconry continues to be practiced today, more for sport than for hunting purposes, although falconers may still eat prey caught by falcons. Today, hunting styles vary among enthusiasts depending on the type of bird one trains. The equipment used, however, is largely the same for all falconers and has not changed over hundreds of years. Falconers use leather gloves, leather hoods, and jesses, which are leather straps attached to the hawk’s legs and held by the falconer. All of this equipment is mentioned in Frightful’s Mountain and used by Sam and other falconers such as Jon Wood and Perry Knowlton. George’s My Side of the Mountain series educates an audience of young readers on falconry practices, helping to keep interest in the sport alive today.
Unlock all 47 pages of this Study GuidePlus, gain access to 8,800+ more expert-written Study Guides.
Including features:
Related Titles
By Jean Craighead George
