What Is The Mood Of The Poem Dog's Death By John Updike

John Updike was born on March 18, 1932, in Reading, Pennsylvania. His mother, herself an aspiring writer, encouraged him to write and draw. For the first three summers after high school, he worked as a copy boy, eventually producing a number of feature stories for the paper. He then received a tuition scholarship to Harvard University, where he majored in english. He was married and had three children. His best work was his “Rabbit In Rich,” for which he received many awards. The poem “Dog’s Death,” by John Updike, takes the reader through the emotions of the love and loss of the family’s dog. Updike uses tone and diction to make you emotionally attached to what the family is experiencing. Investigation of the elements used by Updike allows

for a better understanding of the emotions in, “Dog’s Death.”
For instance, the word choice in “Dog’s Death” attaches the reader to the poem.

The author uses diction to emotionally attach someone to what is going on. The word choice the author uses really brings out an easier way to comprehend what is going on without actually saying it. By using ‘lie down’ in this form, the reader knows that the dog is inevitably going to die because that is a dog command we use to get dog’s to rest. Also, by saying the heart is going to lie down forever, we are also able to understand that she is slowly dying. The final four lines bring such power to what the author is trying to inform the reader on. To know that, even though the dog was deathly sick, she was still able to get to the newspaper to play. A dog will never let their loyalty to their owners down, even when it comes to circumstances, such as death. Not only by word choice but also, one can even visualize this loyalty through the vivid

imagery.
Additionally, the imagery that is in “Dog’s Death” is abundant throughout the poem. The first line, “She must have been kicked unseen or brushed by a car” (Pg. 572), immediately fills the mind with scenes of cars and unknowing dogs being hit. Another use of imagery is when the mention of blood filling the dog’s skin is said. People can see the skin beginning to be taken over by the red liquid. In this scene they were playing with their dog, blind to their dog slowly dying. Also, when they say how they found her, “… twisted and limp but still alive” (Pg. 572.) This makes the reader ache for the poor dog, because she is trying so hard to stay alive. One can also see the horror on the family’s face when they found her under the bed. Another vivid image is when the dog is trying to bite her owner’s hand but dies in the process. People can see the small, limp dog lying in the narrators lap, trying to play with him because her loyalty for her owner is never ending. Besides imagery, one can even hear the sounds of the dog’s loyalty with this poem.
As a final point, “Dog’s Death” is full of sound within the poem.

In the first line again, when the car hit her, readers can hear the car as it brushed over the dog and the whimpering as she was walking back home. Another thing that one can hear is, “Good Dog! Good Dog!” (572.) The audience can vividly hear the narrator and his family saying “good dog” with joy and hear the dog barking with happiness. When the family is playing with the dog one can hear the dog’s short struggled breaths, but hear her happy whimpers, because she is loyal to her family. Also, when it says, “Monday morning, as the children were nosily fed” (Pg. 572.) someone can hear the busy morning, the clang of dishes, the hurried talk, and the rushing out the door. Finally, when it mentions the narrator’s wife crying one can hear the gasping for air and the sobs coming from the

wife.
To conclude, this poem makes readers emotions go every which way they possibly can. This poem especially hits home with everyone who has experienced this kind of loss first hand before. It uses many of the elements to help make the poem even more intriguing. The word choice attaches people to the poem, making them relate to every word. The Imagery makes the whole situation real for the reader and they are able to see what is happening. Finally, the sound within this poem also makes it more intriguing and allows the audience to experience the poem even more. After reading deeply and connecting to the story, the narrator and even dog’s feelings become clear. We learn the narrator loves this dog like she is a member of the family; this loss is like the loss of their child. The dog’s feelings even come to life, because she is continuously loyal to her family, readers understand how much she loves them and wants to be a “good dog” for them until the end. This poem uses these elements to attach readers to this poem and makes the, more deeply understand what is happening