how are the bonds of the family strengthened by their hardships

Zlateh has been in the family for 12 years, all her life, and she got used to human beings and always trusted them, “she knew that they always fed her and never did her any harm”. Trust of an animal surely cannot be compared to the trust between people, but Zlateh was more than just an animal, she was a member of a family. From the context we know that both she and Aaron were 12 years old, and it is quite a period to become a friend. When Aaron put a cord around her neck and led her to the direction unfamiliar for her, she did not disobey, even though she had “uncomfortable feeling of where Aaron was taking her” she did not resist. As has been said, trust between people cannot been compared to the trust of an animal, but ironic becomes the fact that it is trust of an animal the grown-up should learn from.