Heart Of A Dog Analysis

Superior Essays
‘What kind of a “Sharik” is he, anyway?’ Heart of a Dog is a story centered on the different versions of one person, Sharik and Poligraf Poligrafovich Sharikov. The initial impression could not have foreshadowed the dichotomy any better, ’Sharik…somebody round, plump…who gobbles oatmeal, and he… shaggy, lanky tattered, skinny as a rail, a homeless mutt.’ (Bulgakov 5) The transformation of a dog that is able to integrate himself within society is a critique of the fallibility of Russian society, where even an animal is able to hold a job and request a wife. The product, a combination of a dog and Bolshevik man’s organs, produces a product who is unintelligent, rude, and stubborn. The author presents him as a prototypical sympathizer, who is …show more content…
This society set by the author is a cold and unforgiving one contrary to the glorified ideal society preached by the communists.
The introduction of Philip Philippovich changes all of this for Sharik. The life experienced is so much different in Philip’s house, ‘In the course of a week, the dog gobbled down as much food as he had eaten during the last hungry month and half in the street.’ (40) The contrast between Sharik’s new and old situation shows a blatant inequality. As Sharik notes when he first arrives, ‘Oh, no, there’s nothing proletarian in this smell. Some fancy, learned word, who knows what it means.’ (Bulgakov 13) What is heavily implied is that Philip is bourgeois. Ironically communism has not abolished the bourgeois, but has let them remain, contradictory to the primary goal to overthrow the capitalist class. Philip’s skill as a surgeon are greatly valued especially by those of the Party so he is able to manipulate to a certain extent what he wants.
The author shows that inequality is inevitable, those that can provide more value are

Related Documents

  • Improved Essays

    Mischievous Dog An analysis of the short story, “My Kid’s Dog” by Ron Hansen, the narrator, provides insight into different themes and symbols expressed throughout the story. It is a story full of humor, starring a man whose impatience leads to him being constantly annoyed by his pet dog. Hansen emphasizes the feelings between himself and the dog, by stating “I hated the dog. The feeling was mutual” (Bedford 471).…

    • 1007 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The story demonstrates how the relationship between individuals and the pack grows incrementally divergent, and how the language as an embodiment of human intelligence stratifies the pack hierarchy and complicates the dogs’ communication to the humans. In the story “Fifteen Dogs”, the author André Alexis frequently uses personification and anthropomorphism to vivify the dogs’ behavior. The attitude towards the introduction diverges as some of the dogs do not like it, while the other dogs like it and they want to continue living with it. After the exiles and conspired murders, the dogs within the remaining group led by Atticus’s hierarchy are in relationship of domination.…

    • 1207 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Hound Dog Analysis

    • 433 Words
    • 2 Pages

    In this paper I will be writing about the differences between Big Mama Thornton’s recording of "Hound Dog" with that of Elvis Presley recording. The first difference between Big Mama Thornton’s and Elvis Presley’s version is that Big Mama recorded the song “Hound Dog” as a blues song. Whereas Elvis version is considered to be Rock N Roll. Another difference between the two different recordings of Hound Dog is that both artist decided to start of the song differently.…

    • 433 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    "The Heart is a Lonely Hunter,” the first novel written by Author Carson McCullers, became an immediate critical and commercial victory. The Novel is a tale of mankind fighting against isolation, and search for restoration. The story is set in the deep south, in a period succeeding the great depression. People were beginning to recover from years of harrowing suffering; the clouds were starting to diminish, but they had yet to sense a bit of sunshine on their faces. The story circles five main characters in despair- like the spokes on an old wagon wheel, with a struggling small town at its hub.…

    • 610 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    “Fifteen Dogs” written by Andre Alexis is a interesting novel that consists of many adventures,Laughter, and storytelling. This Scotiabank Giller award winning book, is written phenomenally by the author and expresses great morals and advice for the young youth reading it. The author makes great connections to his personal life and through his experiences. Andre Alexis was born in Trinidad and Tobago, but moved to Ottawa at a very young age. He started writing at young age.…

    • 1814 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    “The dog was lying on the grass in the middle of the lawn in front of Mrs. Shears' house. Its eyes were closed. It looked as if it was running on its side, the way dogs run when they think they are chasing a cat in a dream. But the dog was not running or asleep. The dog was dead” (2).…

    • 797 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In André Alexis’ novel, Fifteen Dogs, it is demonstrated that having an intellectual advantage can negatively impact one’s life. The canines in this novel aspire to be regular dogs, having been granted the “gift” of intelligence; however, this “gift” is anything but that. The “gift” of human consciousness and language allows the dogs to analyze situations and feel emotions, which they were not able to do before. The introduction of these abilities to the dogs’ lives causes them to be miserable, and forget the essence of being a dog and being in a pack. This “gift” separates the pack, as the addition of this intellect makes the dogs individuals, instead of a uniform group.…

    • 1015 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In the fictional book, The Lost Letters of Pergamum, the reader is able to see what life is like during the Second Temple Period of Judaism from the eyes of a nobleman. The story takes place shortly after the death of Jesus. Throughout this book we see the development and evolution of a man named Antipas. As the main character corresponds with Luke, not only are his religious views changed, but his views of society as well as his role within it.…

    • 808 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Great Essays

    A balance between peripheral and central persuasion cues is necessary when approaching a mature audience. With film, this balance translates to realistic visual representations that are engaging yet not wholeheartedly fictitious. Sinclair 's The Jungle clearly relied on both central and peripheral persuasion cues. Sinclair appealed to people using peripheral cues in the form of strong imagery; one particular passage is especially vivid: “[T]he meat would be shoveled into carts, and the man who did the shoveling would not trouble to lift out a rat even when he saw one—there were things that went into the sausage in comparison with which a poisoned rat was a tidbit. There was no place for the men to wash their hands before they ate their dinner,…

    • 1724 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Improved Essays

    According to Hermes, the messenger of the Greek gods, “Human Intelligence is not a gift. It is an occasional plague” (15). Many people on earth become distressed, troubled or conflicted in life due to their intelligence allowing their conscious mind to experience harmful events. The human mind is not a gift; rather, it is a curse given to humans to endure and suffer from. This curse is seen in the novel Fifteen Dogs by Andre Alexis, as human intelligence allows a pack of fifteen dogs to create their own language, lose their canine roots, develop a sense of love and create a lust for power which ultimately creates conflict in their lives.…

    • 1624 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The Loaded Dog Analysis

    • 703 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Henry Lawson creates powerful images by employing distinctive visual elements of the outback that enables the responder to feel the hardship of others in an unforgiving and harsh environment. The apparent use of visual detail and descriptions heighten the responder’s sensory engagement with the narrative. These distinctively visual images are evidently reinforced in the concept of mateship in Henry Lawson short stories “ The Loaded dog” and “ The Bush undertaker” which influences the responder to create a new perceptions of the world of others.…

    • 703 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Great Essays

    In his essay “A Hanging,” published in 1931 in the British literary magazine, author George Orwell wanted to show how inhumane and cruel we tended to be so in a certain situation, and this inferred our relatively short life. Orwell uses descriptive words to try to help the readers create a nice vivid image in their minds of what is going on throughout the story. The author creates an atmosphere full of tension by a variation of participants. Although the guards belong to a group of civilized men and treat the prisoners like uncivilized people, the dog shows more compassion for the prisoners rather than the guards. George Orwell uses this story to show how people can deal with monotonous repetition of murder day by day.…

    • 1817 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Superior Essays

    While religion appears to represent the faithful nature of the characters in Patrick Suskind’s novel, Perfume, the love the characters hold for their religion instead hides their selfish natures. With the knowledge that God offers forgiveness, the characters feel the ability to succumb to their own pleasures and God-like dreams. Throughout the novel Perfume, the main character, Jean-Baptiste Grenouille, aspires to gain enough power to become greater than God. With the hope of gaining enough power to control the world, his selfish craving leads him to build up his strength to become superior in all ways compared to God.…

    • 1479 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In Mark Haddon’s novel The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, an attempt at the Bildungsroman genre is made, by employing many of the characteristics of this genre. Many argue that this novel is not a true Bildungsroman however, I will argue that it is, since it contains almost all of the key aspects of this genre, despite the slight twist near the end. I believe that this novel fits the genre of Bildungsroman and demonstrates the coming of age of Christopher through his various experiences in his hometown, as well as on his journey to find his mother. In this essay I will discuss the main components of Bildungsroman: emotional loss, a journey, and transformation and the way in which they are displayed in this novel through Christopher.…

    • 1043 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Great Essays

    Over the years, children’s literature has established itself as a vital tool for the exploration, feeling and creativity ideals that both children and young adults depend upon. Children’s literature is a necessity to facilitate learning, assist in shaping reader’s minds, to stimulate their thought processes and is a reflection of social change. Historically, Australian picturebooks were not a readily available or utilised resource. Australian colonial children were also only exposed to British children’s books, which sheltered them from experiencing literature about their own history, nature and landscape.…

    • 1830 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Great Essays

Related Topics