accounts of dogs: similarities and dissimilarities

Rick Bass utilizes a fascinating approach when discussing his dog, Homer, in “The Odyssey.” Rather than attempting to inject humanizing traits into the behavior of the animal like many authors, Bass seems to have a greater focus upon the unique traits of the dog that make it distinct from humans. Homer’s abstract musings about life achieve this function. While Homer’s “owner” (note that Homer never refers to him as an owner) is showing Homer nostalgic places from his past, Homer describes it as a time “before he knew or dreamed us, and the way we would change his life—the way everything, each day, adds up to change your life, to steer it, turn it” (418). It is unclear whether the human views Homer’s influence upon his life in a similar way. Nonetheless, Homer’s unique perspective provides her with a unique characterization. She continues, “The best thing you can do about this is to take long naps and let it, the decay of life, go on past you, as if uninterested in you—though it is always interested” (418). I can’t help but recall our discussions about how each animal has unique characteristics that we can learn from. Homer’s napping is depicted as being a component of a broader life view that many dogs have. In this way, Rick Bass refrains from the temptation of reading human traits into dogs, and instead presents the unique traits that dogs possess and humans are lacking.

I also found many differences between “The Odyssey” and Jonae Chavez’s “A Ruff Life.” Where “The Odyssey” exemplifies the unique characteristics of dogs, it seems like “A Ruff Life” imagines dogs as being remarkably similar to humans with their emotions and thought process. The protagonist laments, “I run up to my fellow dog’s, but they just ignore me because their mom says, “Don’t talk to her, she can have rabies or bite you.” Why would someone think that of me?” (Chavez). The interactions between the two dogs is depicted as being remarkably similar to the types of interactions that exist between humans. As the account draws to a close, the narrator claims that “her mom puts a collar on me, and this time I won’t take it off” (Chavez). This action was justified by many human emotions that the dog performs. Moreover, the dog is depicted as desiring an owner to take care of it. This speculation from the author is vastly different from Rick Bass’s account, which places the dog and the owner on an equal playing field.