Characterization of Hank the Cowdog

In Hank the Cowdog by John R. Erickson, the primary protagonist is Hank, a dog who feels he is in charge of the security on a small, west Texas ranch. Mr. Erickson does a fine job in getting us to know Hank, and find him often funny in many situations.

On page 112 John shows Hank to be actually a loyal friend to his sidekick, Drover. Though Hank often speaks poorly of his little friend, when John has Hank say, "You're outnumbered, they'll kill you, run for your life!" he shows us Hank cares more for Drover than he does about himself looking good in front of the coyotes. This shows us what Hank really cares about as a character.

On page 122 author Erickson shows Hank to be still too proud to be wrong about something. Hank tells Drover, "...I figured the only way we could crack the case was for me to infiltrate the coyote tribe." This clearly shows Hank's temperment to be one of pride about himself to the extent he will stretch the truth a long ways to make him look good.

On page 127 Mr. Erickson has Hank asking, "Was it my fault that she happened to be washing clothes that day?" This shows what Hank cares about most, and that is avoiding blame for wrongdoing. He clearly was running away from the skunk's smell, and he clearly ran into the house and got the clean laundry dirty. He is in charge of his actions, but when things go wrong he cares more about not getting blamed than accepting responsibility.

Hank is a funny lovable character, brought to life by John Erickson using much detail and vivid description. We get to know him well, like he was actually in our lives. In some ways, I wish he was.

Characterization

In chapter 8 of Hank the Cowdog, John Erickson is still developing Hank's simple, yet complex personality. John has shown us before Hank is likely to think he is a pretty big shot, whether it's with the women or in solving crimes. Early in the chapter Hank is talking about being a writer, yet he can't even spell. He tries to focus on the larger art of writing and excuse his bad spelling, but it just falls flat. Hank is a braggart, and author Erickson allows us to see that clearly.

On pages 84 and 85 John also shows us Hank is lazy. He sleeps 'till noon, then eats what Missy has brought him, then he goes back to sleep. How downright lazy is that?

The last thing John Erickson does in chapter 8 is very, very interesting. He spends the whole chapter, in a way tearing down Hank's reputation in our mind. He's a braggart, a drunk, hangs around wth the likes of Rip and Snort, then Hank totally trashes little Drover, who is slowly becoming our hero. Hank goes back to singing with his new 'friends' and leaves Drover to guard the ranch. Totally bad. But in the last sentence, John allows Hank to have a little bit of a conscience. Singing with the good old boys was not as fun as it previously was. I can imagine an emptiness in Hank. He knows he's done wrong, and his little buddy Drover has shown this to him in clear, easy to understand, language. Hank is not a worthless coyote after all. The force is still strong within him, though right now buried rather deeply.