Runt

Content Warning: This section of the guide includes discussion of animal death.

“Helper, a young tan male born to these same parents the year before, danced, too. His silver sister, Hunter, joined them. ‘How fine to have pups!’ they sang. How fine, too, no longer to be the youngest, the least in the pack!”

This passage from the opening chapter establishes the hierarchy in the wolf pack of the story, as well as who makes up the pack. In the wild, packs typically consist of a mated pair (like King and Silver) and their pups, who may stay with the pack for up to three years. Hunter and Helper are yearlings, meaning that they are a year old, and until the birth of the new litter, they have been the bottom of the hierarchy. Thus, here, they celebrate both the expansion of the pack and their own ascent up the ranks, showing how the wolves value social hierarchy.

“Only Runt lay awake, reliving it all. It wasn’t just Raven’s praise that filled him with such awe. It was everything he had seen, smelled, touched. He could hardly bear to let the memory of it slip away, even for the length of a nap.

Would they leave the den again? Would all he had just seen be waiting for them once more if they did?”

This excerpt from Runt’s thoughts comes after he leaves the den and sees the bright world beyond the dark cave for the first time. While his journey outside the den also includes his first taste of what it means to be a runt, including King’s stony silence and Bider’s taunts, Runt instead chooses to focus on the beauty and wonder of what he sees, showing his ability to find the best in situations. The final line is a reminder of Runt’s newness to the world and his strong desire to