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Bell was Travis’s childhood dog. An older dog who was very protective of the young Travis, Bell died when a freshly severed rattlesnake head bit him on the nose, injecting him with venom. Even though it’s been years since Bell died by the time the novel begins, Travis still often thinks of his erstwhile companion.
Bell Quotes in Old Yeller
The Old Yeller quotes below are all either spoken by Bell or refer to Bell. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
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Chapter 1
Quotes
A big diamond-back rattler struck at Papa and Papa chopped his head off with one quick lick of his scythe. The head dropped to the ground three or four feet away from the writhing body. It lay there, with the ugly mouth opening and shutting, still trying to bite something.
As smart as Bell was, you'd have thought he'd have better sense than to go up and nuzzle that rattler's head. But he didn't, and a second later, he was falling back, howling and slinging his own head till his ears popped. But it was too late then. […] He died that night, and I cried for a week.
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Get the entire Old Yeller LitChart as a printable PDF.
Bell Character Timeline in Old Yeller
The timeline below shows where the character Bell appears in Old Yeller. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 1
...American Indians often raid Hill Country homes. Travis used to have a good dog named Bell, but several years ago, Bell died when a freshly severed rattlesnake head bit Bell on...
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