Jonathan Blais Mr. Ersinghaus Story Critiques 9 May 2011 My Kid’s Dog and Irony Ron Hansen’s work, My Kid’s Dog, is a story about revenge, irony, and circularity. The family pet, Sparky, dies. We are informed of this in the first lines of the piece, “My kid’s dog died. Sparky. I hated that dog (244).” Here Hansen gives us a clue to their relationship, “We got off on the wrong foot. Whining in his pen those first nights. My squirt gun in his face and him blinking from the water. And then the holes in the yard. The so-called accidents in the house (244).” Right off the bat we get a clear sense of the mood between the two. Hansen also foreshadows the fact that the dog will somehow get revenge on the narrator, “And then, at …show more content…
Along this difficult march, the narrator reflects on the life of the dog and remembers the not-so-bad characteristics of the family pet, “During our joint ordeal I had developed a grudging affection for our pet; he who’d been so quick to defend my kith and kin against the noise of passing trucks, who took loud notice of the squirrels outside, who held fast in the foyer, hackles raised, fearlessly barking, whenever company arrived at the front door (248).” Soon after this moment the narrator is confronted by a motorist who wishes to ‘help’ him with his heavy looking package, which he describes as a ‘family heirloom.’ The narrator consents, and after loading the dog into the trunk, the motorists takes off, ignorantly and ironically thinking he just stole something of value. The piece ends with the narrator informing his youngest daughter of Sparky’s untimely death and the reveal of the dog’s revenge. After the narrator observes his crying daughter, Hansen concludes, “And that was Sparky’s final revenge, for I said, ‘Okay, honey. Another dog, just like him (250).’” The narrative structure of the story is fairly straightforward. The narrator is recounting an experience that happened to him at some point in the past. Along with the simple flow of the story, reflective details, and occasional scene, there are some significant techniques that Hansen uses to flesh out and add credibility to his story. Right off the bat we see the title, My Kid’s Dog.
The pages which precede the mad dog incident tell of Scout’s embarrassment over the fact that her father is somewhat older the father of her peers. Atticus wears glasses and reads rather than hunting and playing football like the father’s of many of her friends. Scout’s opinion is drastically changed, however, when Tim Robinson, an old dog, turns up, walking down the street towards the Finch’s house. It is immediately obvious that Tim is not healthy, and it soon becomes apparent that he is in fact rabid, and thus highly dangerous. Heck Tate, the sheriff, soon arrives, bringing with him a rifle which he hands to Atticus. Although he is initially unwilling, Atticus realises his duty to his community, and shoots the mad dog. Maudie Atkinson later tells Scout and Jem that Atticus was once “the deadest shot in Maycomb County”(Lee, 112). The children are shocked that their seemingly boring and non-violent father was actually a great marksman.
Henry's father finally brought home a dog, but it was on his terms. The dog was an old, arthritic, barely ambulatory Irish setter, who was "wonderfully mannered and meticulously groomed," and "the kind of dog you'd get if you really didn't want a dog or to be bothered with a dog." Henry knew as soon as he saw the old dog that "he had been betrayed and outsmarted."
Dogs rarely die a shameful death, but instead fight to the finish. Using this dichotomy he further illustrates the severance of and between the hunter and the hunted. McKay emphasizes within the first three lines that the conflict at hand is not merely a struggle then, but a fierce hunt in which there is no mercy and only one survivor.
There is a saying, “a dog is a man's’ best friend”. In the book Where The Red Fern Grows,by Wilson Rawls, Billy Coleman is a young boy who wants nothing other than two Redbone coonhounds and to hunt in the Ozark Mountains with them. Through his determination, he works up money buy the pups, but he is faced with many struggles along the road. His determination, the will power and strong heart to make it through the struggles, made him the boy he is now. Over all, Billy Coleman and his dogs face many conflicts throughout the book, but he stays determined to make it through.
As the narrator was introduced to his new brother Doodle, he originally had no hope for that brother that would be able to play with him. But after seeing the resoluteness of his little brother at a young age, through a mix of good intentions and a significant amount of selfishness, he succumbs to his internal pride, and pushes Doodle too far. By turning a desperate situation into a positive one, the pride that results from said accomplishment makes things precarious, which can lead to devastation if all were to
Cat's Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut is a satire on the state of world affairs in the 1960's. Vonnegut made a commentary in this book on the tendency of humans to be warlike, belligerent, and shortsighted. The main character of the book, the narrator, is certainly not a protagonist, although the modern reader craves a hero in every story and the narrator in this one is the most likely candidate. Through the narrator's eyes, Vonnegut created a story of black humor ending in the destruction of the earth.
John Updike's "A Dog's Death" is a heart-wrenching poem in which a narrator remembers a puppy that he and his family rescued. In the poem, the puppy tragically dies due to unseen injuries that it had. In the poem, Updike illustrates how the puppy fought to live and did not give up despite the many obstacles that she faced. Through the use of imagery, Updike is able to describe the brief moments that the family had with the puppy and demonstrate how quickly circumstances changed for his family and the puppy.
In his poem, “Golden Retrievals”, Mark Doty writes about a dog that wants to play. It takes great joy in a “thrillingly dead thing” (6) and “sniff[s] the wind” (4) in search of fun. Still, the dog is not satisfied. It notices its owner sulking over the past, so, through disjointed thoughts and sporadic style, it tries to help its owner forget about the past. Doty writes his poem through the perspective of a dog, utilizing structure to convey a sense of playfulness that highlights the importance of living in the moment.
In this short story, Henry Devereaux was being raised by two parents that always seemed to be unavailable. Both Henry's mother and father were English professors at a local university, but Henry’s father was also a well-known writer. As a child of two parents that seem to never be around Henry was lonely and wanted a companion. Henry wanted a dog, but his mother said a dog is not just given it has to be earned. As time went on Henry’s mother had given him a few things here and there that he needed to fix to better his chances of getting a dog, and because Henry wanted the dog so badly he was willing to fix it. Later on, in the story, Henry’s father went off alone to go and pick up a special dog for Henry.
Without reservation, Carlson says to Candy, “If you want me to, I’ll put the old devil out of his misery right now and get it over with. Ain’t nothing left for him. Can’t eat, can’t see, can’t even walk without out hurtin’” (47). This, much like the ending, illustrates Steinbeck’s ethical view of suffering being greater than death, but in a less extreme situation. Steinbeck prepares readers mentally by exposing them to a situation in which the motif applies and begins to form an internal conflict within readers. If Candy had not let his dog die, he would indeed have the dog he loved, but his dog would be suffering. Candy later says, “I oughtta of shot that dog myself, George. I shouldn’t oughtta of let no stranger shoot my dog” (61). This exposes readers to what will happen and inherently introduces the idea of remorse for not ending their suffering peacefully. The strategic placement of this quote further pushes the overall lesson Steinbeck is trying to teach and lets it mature in readers’ minds by instilling this concept of killing the person the reader loves themselves (or being with them when they die) so that the last experience the person dying has is with someone they love and their last feeling of life is one of love and
When you hear the word “dog,” what do you think? When most people hear the word “dog,” they think of a pet that’s cute and fluffy. When I hear this word I don’t think of a pet, but instead I think of a family member. I believe that dogs are loveable and makes a huge impact on our world today
In the novel, The Curious Incident Of The Dog In The Night-Time, Mark Haddon uses a range of techniques such as short sentences, dialogue and repetition, that contribute to the making of a characters readers can relate and sympathise with. All these characters are struggling with the loss of loved ones, which most readers will have experienced in their life. This therefore leads to a strong connection between the reader and the characters, making it easy to sympathise with the struggles that the characters are
the next day the kids see a rapid dog slowly moving down the street they tell Atticus this when the rest of the street hears about this they know that the dog needs to be killed but they can't tell the owner. when the dog getting close enough Atticus takes out a rifle and shoots the dog the kids ask him how he had such a good aim. miss Maudie tells them about him being One-shot Finch and how he shot fifteen times and hit fourteen doves. Meanwhile, the tension built in Maycomb after Atticus was assigned to defend Tom Robinson, an African-American man accused of raping white women, Mayella Ewell, the eldest daughter of Bob Ewell, one of the town drunks and perhaps one of the porrets white man in town. Being a man of high moral principles, Atticus refuses to pass on the case to another lawyer and instead stands firm in his conviction to defend Tom. Scout and Jem respect this but the rest of the town doesn't. Mrs. Dubose, a mean old woman who sits out on her porch shouts at passersby,says terrible things about Atticus that Jem cuts down her camellias with Scouts baton. his punishment for this is to read to Mrs. Dubose every
Throughout the first half of the novel, Christopher strives to find out who killed his neighbor’s dog named Wellington. He sets out to become a detective in his mind, which drives his father and the owner of the dog, Mrs. Shears, crazy.
Woody continues to be a marvelous dog that comes from the miniature schnauzer breed. He persists in being a mischievous dog. Woody dislikes when strangers come up to him, in fact he would go bellicose. The neighbors became unhappy about this they think that Woody should get berated. This whole situation shouldn’t occur, it’s asinine. Finally, Woody’s owners decide to take him to a trainer so that they won’t get anymore complaints. After 3 weeks of training Woody will now be the perfect dog everybody wants.