Robert and the Dog
Ken Saro-Wiwa's short story "Robert and the Dog" tells about a steward and his master and mistress, the main character is the steward: Robert.
To understand the character Robert, one must look a bit at his background. Ken Saro-Wiwa has left several clues in the text that can tell us a lot about this. Before Robert was employed by the young medical doctor, he had worked for several different households. It is indicated in the text that these had not been as pleasant a workplace as with the young doctor. It seems that Robert had been used to his employers' shouting and losing their tempers. And never calling him by his first name. Also the gratitude Robert feels towards his new employer, for his mere politeness, indicates that Robert is not accustomed to gestures of this sort. All this shows how Robert probably has been degraded and suppressed throughout his whole life.
Later in the story Saro-Wiwa tells that Robert never misses a chance to exercise the power he has over his family. This type of pathological behaviour is common among people with an inferiority complex, something Robert is very likely to have attained, due to the treatment he has received. Later when the dog is introduced to the story, Robert has enlightenment and reveals to us and to himself his place in the hierarchy. He had always thought himself above them, but now discovers he is down with the dogs. This shattering blow to his self-image makes him aware of his own feelings and features. When his master throws him a treat or a kind word, he "wags his tail" and feels indefinite gratitude, just like a dog. He does his master's bidding with a heartfelt glee, just like a dog. And he loves his master above all else, just like Bingo, the dog. The revelation causes hatred to swell his servant mind, at length resulting in Robert taking a step up the hierarchical ladder, and the tragic premature death of Bingo, the dog.
Ken Saro-Wiwa's short story about Robert and the dog Bingo also portrays a culture clash that not everybody thinks about, the view of the pets. In our rich western world pets are not uncommon. A lot of people have them, and among the most popular are dogs. Pets or "house animals" are nothing new, man has for the last 15 000 years kept animals as companions.
Have you ever had the pleasure of sitting beside an animal on the Skytrain on your commute to work or stood in line beside one at the grocery store? Did you know that there's a difference between service dogs and emotional-support animals? These are one of the many struggles that individuals are faced when in public. The article "Pets Allowed" written by Patricia Marx gives you an inside look on the struggles people are faced with while also explaining the rules and laws regulating emotional-support animals that many aren't aware of. Many business owners are being taken advantage of by pet
While his connection with animals gets stronger; his bond with humans happens to fade away. He goes on a ship with other soldiers to go fight in the war. After Harris is taken ill, Robert then has to be the one responsible for taking care of the horses on the ship. Even though having to stay with the horses is a horrible duty of a soldier because of the smell, the insects, and the rats, “[Robert] found it was a marvelous cure for seasickness” (Findley 63). He enjoyed staying with the horses to the point where he “became completely disengaged from the other life on the upper deck. He even went below off duty” (Findley 63). Robert found himself a place where he belongs and is most comfortable in on that ship; not with humans but with the horses. After Robert spends a decent time with the horses, one of them has broken its leg, and Robert is called to shoot it since he is an officer with a gun. Robert hesitates and becomes nervous, “he has never squeezed a trigger against a living creature in the whole of his life” (Findley 64). Robert starts desperately thinking of ways to avoid what he had been asked to do. He thought to himself “why couldn’t Battery Sergeant-Major Joyce do this? Hadn’t he been in the army all his life?” (Findley 64). This demonstrates that Robert strongly does not want to be the one causing
Throughout the book, it is shown that Robert has a special connection with animals and the environment. The many animals he encounters throughout the story are symbols which reflect on him and his actions. After Robert accidentally kills the German sniper who spared the life of him and his men, he feels guilty for taking an innocent life. This is reflected in nature by the bird which “sang and sang and sang, till Robert rose and walked away. The sound of it would haunt him to the day he died.” (Findley 131) This scene uses the readers’ knowledge of Robert’s deep emotional connections with animals to emphasize the sadness and guilt that he felt after shooting the German. Robert is often shown as innocent and caring, traits he shares with animals. Rodwell realizes this and draws a picture of Robert in his sketchbook (otherwise full of animal sketches), although “the shading was not quite human” (Findley 138). In the sketch, Rodwell is able to show both the human and non-human side of Robert. Finally, Robert’s strong love for Rowena, his sister, is mainly because of her innocence. As a result of her disability, she is innocent and naïve like a child or animal; she relies on Robert to be “her guardian” (Findley 10)....
Robert Ross becomes the anti-hero because of his need of to save others but inability to do so; Robert, himself, is not aware of the fact that all he wants to do is save others because he could not save the one person he cared about, Rowena: “It wasn’t Stuart’s fault. It was Robert’s fault. Robert was her guardian and he was locked in his bedroom. Making love to his pillows.” (16) Furthermore, Robert tries to save Rowena’s rabbits: “I’ll look after them. […] I’ll take care of them. Please!!!” (18) Meanwhile, he fails again when someone else was hired to do so: “It took him thirty seconds to emerge from his pain and to realize why Teddy Budge was there.” (20) Robert unknowingly feels the need to be a savior for the people in his life, but constantly fails to do so with every attempt. Throughout the book, Robert blames himself for not being able to save Rowena or her rabbits. Another reason Robert enlists in the war is to unintentionally make up for the lack of lives he could not save in his own household.
Robert is a very interesting character with strong values, preservation of life being one of them. He goes through an emotional and psychological change throughout the novel. He assigns himself a responsibility of taking care of his sister
From the beginning of the story, and throughout most of it until the end, the narrator makes comments about his dislike for blind people. He is unwilling to meet Robert, his wife’s friend of 10 years because he can’t see. The narrator is so fixed on his physical handicap that it makes him unable to try and get to know Robert’s character at all. His
Want? -"(P721). By treating everyone generically and denying their importance, the narrator is trying to make himself seem more important in the lives of others. He simply calls his wife's first husband "the officer"(P720) or "the man"(P720). His refusal to even use his wife's name while narrating as well as constantly referring to Robert as the "the blind man"(P720) shows that he has decided to block out the importance of the people around him. He is even less considerate of Roberts wife, whom he refers to as "Beulah, Beulah"(P721). The narrator chooses not to see everyone around him as individuals, but as a whole group. A group he is scared to look at. The narrator's feelings toward Robert are...
The other emotion highly present from the beginning is that of the attitude of Robert. We are introduced to what appears to be a quick witted and pleasant man, especially considering the recent death of his wi...
Pets can have real jobs like people. Dogs-rescuers save lives together with people. For instance, when people get in appalling avalanches courageous dogs-rescuers help to find them. Also, some breeds of dogs, e.g. sheep dog, badger-dog, labrador, spaniel, and so on, serve at customs. More than that, they can find illegal things like drugs, dangerous weapons, or explosive stuff. What’s more, they help to control order and assist in avoiding terrible acts of terrorism. Some people literally can't live without pets. For example, blind people need guide-dogs to move around their homes. The connection between such masters and their pets becomes really strong and truly close and a person gets pet-dependent in this case. Enthusiastic owners devote their life to pets. They try to make the best for them and like to take part in exhibitions. Pet's clothes, food, houses, brushes take on special value for
I believe that if it weren’t for Robert’s visit and presence, the narrator more than likely wouldn’t have had this kind of experience. Maybe, the narrator wouldn’t have changed his mind of thinking and feeling at that moment. Who knows if he did change for the long run, but maybe it was a much-needed moment that he was eager to have, for himself, for his relationship sake. To realize that there is much more to seeing then what he just sees in front of him, because Robert taught him that even though you have your vision, some can still be blind to
The other day I was sitting with a friend of mine in a class, all of a sudden she turns to me saying, "You got to see this." Expecting to be handed a phone to read some text or watch a video to my surprise she hands me a copy of National Geographic turned to an article about the domestication of foxes. "Borrow it from me, I know you're into animal stuff, you got to read it." Only my friends would do this, but this article is a really great starting point to discussing pets. I think it is important to explain how I happened upon the article, because I doubt I would have gotten passed an article about wild foxes, or wild animals for that matter. The fact that they were able to breed foxes specifically to be pets for humans was the reason of interest, as her later comment that, "I totally want one, they are so adorable" shows . Pets are our strongest connection to the natural world; they are the part of nature we interact with on a day-to-day basis. Pet stores, like Petco which I visited, do a lot to mediate and influence manner in which relationships between people and their pets' form. Pets have a distinct role in people's lives as children, best friends, and members of the family which not only impact how the pet is treat it also impacts how other animals are seen and ranked in their importance towards humans.
Having an exotic pet is not a relatively new idea. The idea to have an exotic animal has been around since the Mesopotamia was thriving around 3000 BC, and these pets were a symbol that the owner was of royalty or relatively rich (McNie). Owning an exotic animal made a person relatively famous among the population that was not as fortunate to have one. This supremacy of owning an exotic animal has prospered throughout the centuries gaining popularity, especially during the 1960s in England where anyone that was able to have an exotic animal became favored among movie stars and the general population (Bourke and Rendall 22). Nowadays people owning exotic animals cherish their time with them while providing the animal with a proper habitat and diet. Toby a tiger that is now under the care of the National Tiger Sanctuary was loved and cared for by a private home for most of his life along with many other ...
We see in the wife how straightforward she is but at times she cannot express herself fully just like the husband she does this when she gets upset and throws the potato to the ground in anger. Makes it feel as there is an underlying problem going on that the reader does not know about. Robert means hope to the wife because he is one of the oldest friends she has. She and her husband do not have mutual friends and she hopes for him to recognize the blind man as a possibility for him to make friends and share something in common to bring them closer she emphasizes that if he loves her that he would be nice to Robert therefor it is visible the pressure that is out in the husband to perform well when he meets Robert and understand that he is a dear friend of his wife. The wife trying to pay attention to Robert forgets how her husband feels about this situation and underestimates the narrator feelings. In the short story we realize that contact is always the best connection you can have, examples are when the blind says this beats the tapes when he is talking to the wife also at the end when the husband creates the painting of the cathedral instead of dictating it to Robert. For the narrator the routine the monotony, and his own limited vision leads him to encounter an experience that he once never felt before it was describing a picture to a blind man without having to speak a word. Meanwhile this was going on the wife had fallen asleep and all of this progress between them was occurring. Again, something amazing that is not visible. The ending concludes abruptly because it does not say if the husband and Robert became good friends or the wife gets closer to the husband because of his newly relationship with one of her friends or if he just went back to being superficial and at times ignorant. In spite of the narrator's jokes, and exaggerated assumptions. He is more blind than
And from time to time, Robert does exhibit some outstanding qualities of character which have earned the respect of so many of us gathered here today. He is generous to a fault – especially if it’s his own. He is exceptionally modest – although he has plenty to be modest about (or at least he did until Pamela became his girlfriend). And he is a man who always sticks by his convictions - he will remain in the wrong no matter how much he gets ridiculed for it.