Symbolism In A Dog's Tale

Mark Twain believes that dogs are superior to man because out of all animals, man is the only one that is cruel enough to inflict pain on others just for the pleasure of doing it. Twain’s short story “A Dog’s Tale”, written in 1903, displays these beliefs and is done so from a dog’s point of view. This unusual take on the story is used to help convey the theme that one shouldn’t assume the others will do the same for them. The story includes literary elements such as characterisation, structural irony and a plot and conflict. It is a story of a loyal and heroic dog which unfortunately ends in an ironic twist of fate.

As the story starts out we figure out that it is written in first person… and from a dog’s point of view. “My father was a St.

But, because of her innocent and naïve nature, her trust is again betrayed by the antagonist of the story, Mr Grey. One day, as the rest of the Grey’s family is out of town, Mr Grey and his friends bring Aileen’s puppy to his laboratory and performed an experiment. “…they took the puppy to the laboratory, and I limped three-leggedly along, too, feeling proud, for any attention shown the puppy was a pleasure to me…” She misunderstands that these men are going to cause harm to her pup, so when they do she is so naïve and trusting that she thinks everything is still alright. “he patted my head, and there were tears in his eyes, and he said, "Poor little doggie, you SAVED his child”. As the footman buries Aileen’s puppy, she does not understand the nature of the situation and the structural irony that has taken place. She believes that planting her puppy would make it grow new and healthy when the reality is that her puppy isn’t coming back. Eventually, Aileen starts to catch on to this, grows ill and although not stated specifically, we can infer that she dies of grief after the loss of her