An Analysis Of Dog's Death, By John Updike

The poem, “Death of a Young Son by Drowning” written by Margaret Atwood was awfully sad and tragic as it described the death of her son and its lasting effect on her. The speaker begins the poem by describing how her son was brave, adventurous and led with success. However, the mood of the poem quickly changes as the young boy slipped off the bank and into the water. From there, the boy struggles in the water before eventually drowning. As he is pulled out of the water the mother realizes that all the plans that she had for the future are over and that a part of her has died alongside her son. Atwood uses multiple types of figurative language that gives this poem a sense of realism and really shows the reader the devastation and heartache that occurs after the loss of a child.

The idea of death can be, and is an enormously disturbing, unknown issue in which many people can have many different opinions. To some individuals, the process of life can progress painstakingly slow, while for others life moves too fast. In the excerpt We Were the Mulvaneys, by Joyce Carol Oates, a innocent farm boy named Judd Mulvaney has an eye-opening encounter by a brook near his driveway. During this encounter, Judd faces a chain of feelings and emotions that lead to his change of opinion of the issues of life and death, and change as a character. This emblematic imagery of life and death, as well as jumpy, and retrospective tones benefit the development of Judd as an innocent child as he begins to change into a more conscious and aware adult.

Right from the beginning he gives us this image of his characters greeting him with misty faces and how his paper on which he is writing is more of a quicksand than paper. His way of describing gives his poem a frustrated and dark tone. “They extend skeletal arms for the handcuffs of contrivance… forward is my order, thought their bandages unravel and some have no backbones and some turn traitor like heads with two faces” (12-25) Updike goes on to describe his characters like skeletons obeying each and everyone of his orders, this type of description gives his poem a Dark tone. He goes on to describe how even though he gives an order some of his characters will turn on him and disobey his orders, this is where frustration is added to his already dark tone.

The last line in the poem “and since they were not the ones dead, turned to their own affairs” lacks the emotions the reader would expect a person to feel after a death of a close family member. But instead, it carries a neutral tone which implies that death doesn’t even matter anymore because it happened too often that the value of life became really low, these people are too poor so in order to survive, they must move on so that their lives can continue. A horrible sensory image was presented in the poem when the “saw leaped out at the boy’s hand” and is continued throughout the poem when “the boy’s first outcry was a rueful laugh…the hand was gone already…and that ended it”, this shows emphasis to the numbness the child felt. The poem continues with the same cold tone without any expression of emotion or feelings included except for pain, which emphasizes the lack of sympathy given. Not only did the death of this child placed no effect on anyone in the society but he was also immediately forgotten as he has left nothing special enough behind for people to remember him, so “since they were not the one dead, turned to their affairs”. This proves that life still carries on the same way whether he is present or not, as he is insignificant and that his death

Bold images and examples strengthen this central idea. Pinsky uses pets as an example in lines 3 and 4, “The Golden Retriever next door, Gussie, is dead,/ Like Sandy, the Cocker Spaniel from three doors down”. For many, the death of a pet is the first time the concept of death is introduced, often at a young age. By listing the dog breeds and even their names, Pinsky creates a vivid image that is similar to what the reader is

Dogs have always played an important role in most American families. There has always been a saying “a dog is a man's best friend.” Through the poem you are able to look out into the world through a dog's perspective. In the poem “Golden Retrievals” by Mark Doty, the author uses informal diction, concrete diction, and repeated structure to show the dogs loving view of the world.

In the beginning of the short story, as Brother reflects on Doodle’s life, the author uses personification and foreshadowing to create a mood of remorse. As he gazes out of the window into his backyard, Brother states that “the graveyard flowers were blooming. ...speaking softly the names of our dead” (Hurst 1). The flowers provide flashbacks of the past, and foreshadow a loss of life. The loneliness felt by Brother causes readers to consider how they would feel if their loved one was gone. As Brother observes the seasons, it is noted that “summer was dead but autumn had not yet been born” (Hurst 1). The personifications of the seasons as stages in the cycle of life and death creates an unsure and uncertain mood. The shift between seasons creates an idea of change and uncertainty of events to come. Hurst creates a mood of remorse through

Ordinary people are not often put into books, however, "prolific and acclaimed contemporary" author John Updike examines their lives with "intimate detail" (Krstovic). "many of John Updike's works... grew out of his own life and especially out of his relationship to a six-room sandstone farmhouse... Updike's mother was born in the house and died there" (Tuerk). One topic he examines in his books is how people cope with death. In a short stories of his entitled "The Cats," a man by the name of David travels to his mother's home after she dies. He constantly remembers the events with his mother from his past and they give him a sense of comfort in the difficult time he is facing. The next short story

After Doodle dies, Brother throws his body on top of him crying and “sheltering [his] fallen scarlet ibis from the heresy of rain.” Brother grows up with Doodle, teaches him how to walk, and is proud of how much he has accomplished. Brother even calls Doodle as his, showing possessiveness. Nevertheless, he feels guilty, that he was the reason his brother died. The act of sheltering Doodle also shows his guilt because previously, Brother did not protect him or show his love. Nonetheless, now that he is dead, Brother is protecting Doodle because he had not done so before. Another example where a remorseful tone is present is as Brother is hearing the oriole singing, he feels sorrowful as the song “seems to die up in the leaves.” The tone the author sets is opposite to what emotions are typically felt about a bird singing. Instead of making Brother feel happy, it is the opposite, creating a feeling of sorrow and remorse. Hurst’s word choice contributes to this. The word “die” gives off a negative connotation, seeming as if the happiness of the song is fading away in the leaves of the tree. The elm tree also has a direct relationship with Doodle, and this reminder causes sadness and guilt in Brother. Clearly, the tone is impactful in conveying Brother’s

John Updike's "A Dog's Death" is a heart-wrenching poem in which a narrator remembers a puppy that he and his family rescued. In the poem, the puppy tragically dies due to unseen injuries that it had. In the poem, Updike illustrates how the puppy fought to live and did not give up despite the many obstacles that she faced. Through the use of imagery, Updike is able to describe the brief moments that the family had with the puppy and demonstrate how quickly circumstances changed for his family and the puppy.

This essay will be an analytical essay where the novel The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon will be analyzed and interpreted. The focus will be on the language of the novel and the themes and messages.

In the novel, The Curious Incident Of The Dog In The Night-Time, Mark Haddon uses a range of techniques such as short sentences, dialogue and repetition, that contribute to the making of a characters readers can relate and sympathise with. All these characters are struggling with the loss of loved ones, which most readers will have experienced in their life. This therefore leads to a strong connection between the reader and the characters, making it easy to sympathise with the struggles that the characters are

A Three Dog Life is about Abigail Thomas trying to cope with her husband’s traumatic head injury, that happened because she let Rich walk Harry alone one night; which makes him acts differently to the things that were so familiar to him. We read along as Thomas tries out new coping mechanism; like buying a new house, new dogs and buying paintings. The purpose of this essay is to take an analytical approach to how guilt is an important theme A Three Dog Life.

The poem that I have selected for this essay is “Talking to Grief” by Denise Levertov. I chose this poem because it talks about grief. It also talks about the place that grief should have in a person’s life. The poem describes grief, and compares it to a “homeless dog.” It also describes how a dog deserves its own place in the house, instead of living under a porch or being homeless. This poem talks about how a person can be aware that grief is present, but that it is not always acknowledged and accepted. We all experience grief in different ways, and for different reasons. Everyone deals with grief in their own personal way. This poem describes a point in a person’s life when they are ready to accept grief as a part of their life

Dog’s Death by John Updike really touched me when I read it for the first time. His use of imagery in this poem is very touching. He makes the reader relate to the death of the dog by showing through his words the emotions of what the dog is going through as well as what his owners are feeling. This paper will show how I think the author was trying to use imagery to show the love between the dog and his owners.