Silverbelly is an homage to nature.

Wilder Good returns in book five staying with his grandfather and learning about hunting. Wilder's knowledge about nature, guns, and living out in nature is more than any city person's. He still learns in every book because life is always teaching lessons. In this novel, the lessons come from nature.

It's Thanksgiving and it's cold. Wilder and his sister are with their grandfather who allows them to go out and play and learn. He teaches them safety, morals, ethics, but he doesn't "helicopter" them. Wilder will be gone for hours, but his grandfather knows that Wilder can take care of himself. Besides, he can find him if he needs to. Wilder simply thinks he'd like to kill a big deer--a trophy kill--while visiting. You see pictures of people posing after a hunt with their dead animal as if they conquered the animal. It shows little respect to the animal, especially if the animal was pinned in a hunting area for people to easily shoot. While out on the land, Wilder witnesses a neighbor bring a hunter onto their land. He does as any landowner would do and confronts them by telling them they are on his grandfather's land. On his own property, the neighbor hosts hunters, luring deer for hunters to shoot more easily than actually hunting them. He's not the nicest guy and wants quick money without adhering to hunting laws.

When Wilder returns home, he tells his grandfather about the hunters. The novel is driven by several conflicts. Wilder sees how easily the hunters hunt on the neighboring land and disagrees. Wilder begins to rethink his "trophy" dreams because this neighbor doesn't respect the animals--they are a means to a end. Is bagging a "trophy" any better? Isn't hunting for food just fine without trying to show off by claiming a large animal as your trophy? The big trophy in this novel is Silverbelly, a deer Wilder's grandfather took care of and then sent into the wild. Part of the novel is from Silverbelly's point of view, showing his intelligence and survival skills, demonstrating man vs. nature. Should Wilder hunt him or leave this majestic creature? Will the hunters kill Silverbelly just to have a trophy?

Silverbelly reflects nature realistically--animals are born, they die, and sometimes they are hunted. In the end, it's the majesty of these animals and the respect one shows toward nature that proves true morality toward all life, all nature. ( )