Offership In Foer's A Man And His Dog

For some people, pet ownership and companionship is a necessity of life. A companionship in any sense of the word is necessary and needed by most people. Usually a pet can fill this void, depending on what kind of companionship the person is in need of. The essays, "My Life as a Dog" by Jonathan Safran Foer and, "A Man and His Cat" by Tim Kreider both explain what their pets mean to them. Kreider starts his essay off with stating that he lived with the same cat for nineteen years. This essay is a lot about the needed human companionship. Whether this companion is a pet or another person. He states, "I've speculated that people have a certain reservoir of affection that they need to express, and in the absence of any more appropriate objection …show more content…
The choices we make can directly affect our pets. Kreider states, “Whenever I felt embarrassed about factoring a house pets desires into major life decisions, some grown up sounding part of me told myself, it's just a cat.” (Kreider 962). When he writes this he does not mean it's just a cat. The cat is an extension of him. It is a major part of his life and his decision making is affected by how he feels his cat will feel. As Kreider writes, he goes deeper into the philosophy of the psychological connection and the wholesome feeling of having a companion. As long as he felt his cat was happy, he was …show more content…
In the Kreider essay, he talks about his cat and how major decisions in his life and the lives of others are affected by their animal. Kreider also states that people’s emotions are connected directly with their own. In the Foer essay, he talks about a similar feeling with his dog and the emotional connection between the two.
Behavior is a key subject in both essays. The thought of animals being able to affect how humans feel and how they act is often brought up. Even with a lack of ability to communicate, people believe they connect emotionally with their pets. The collective want of both authors to keep their animals happy shows this emotional connection. The well being of each pet, whether it is Foer’s dog George or Kreider’s cat is closely accounted for in both writings.
Each essay is inspired by different circumstances. Whether it is Kreider’s essay about how his cat affects his life and what emotional connections we can make with our pets. While Foer realizes over the course of his essay how important his dog George is to him. This realization comes from the possible removal of off-leash hours in their local New York City parks. Unlike Kreider who writes his essay all about the love and emotional connection he has with his cat, the Foer essay develops over the period of the essay. The main point of Foer’s essay is to question the removal of the off-leash