Fifteen Dogs By Andre Alexis

956 Words2 Pages

A sense of belonging and community is essential in finding value and purpose in life. Dogs are naturally social animals that seek to live in packs. In the novel “Fifteen Dogs”, written by André Alexis, the dogs are given human intelligence and are forced to face a difficult question; to embrace this new way of life or revert back to their old nature. The intelligence the dogs gain unites the pack of dogs together, but, it is also what separates them from all other dogs. The introduction of language to the pack creates disorder within the hierarchy of the group which leads to divisions between the dogs. A repeated point made throughout the book was the fight for dominance between the dogs. In a canine hierarchy, the dogs on the top are generally established through physical dominance over the other dogs. Generally speaking, physical superiority means that it is ordinarily the largest dogs that have the highest ranks. Prince quickly embraces the new language and begins creating poetry. Prince’s artful expression of words makes the …show more content…

Before the fifteen dogs received human intelligence they would assume their position as the dominant or submissive dog by physical superiority without giving it much thought. With the introduction of language, the dogs with lower status became conscious to the cruel treatment they were receiving from the higher status dogs in the pack, which lead to them separating from the pack. Once the dogs with lower status were gone, there were only dogs left that were used to dominating others. In brief, the uncertainty of position lead to constant fighting for dominance between the dogs that all believed they were of higher status than the others. This emulates the need for more power in our society, to strive for social and personal advances. It is practically a human instinct to want to prove yourself to others and achieve higher status than those around

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