Rod Kessler's How To Touch A Bleeding Dog

The loss of a loved one will make someone go through many if not all the stages of grief. In How to Touch a Bleeding Dog, by Rod Kessler there is an indirect message behind the text, in which a man has become a widower with his wife Beths dog as a remembrance of her. Despite how much the man seemed to love his wife, he does not feel the same about her dog that she has left behind. The dog plays a minor role is the story, as it is more directed towards Beth. It is obvious to the reader that the narrator has not yet accepted reality, gone beyond through the idea that the dog to the man is more of a burden then a companion; a “responsibility”, and seen through when the dog gets into an accident, becoming the description of loneliness and the effect of loss.
The sorrow expressed after beginning his day leads the narrator to immediately resent opening his eyes and to make him feel as if there is no reason to step into the outer world. This sorrow is so deep that he prefers to stay as an ill-tempered man and dislikes every minute of the existence without his wife, as well as dealing with the dog. He refers to his day beginning as “nothing”, that is was …show more content…
This gruesome description agrees with the idea of the dog being a resemblance. After putting the dog in the car to go to a vet, he describes the dog as “heavy in my arms” (1) and “settles without resistance” (1) signifying the steps to respiratory failure. Describing the dog as “gravity's dog” (1) is as if he is describing his emotions felt during the death of his wife. The dog being someone else’s gives into the natural forces of life, like the car or truck that hit him, and like the end of his relationship with