Canine Death in Canonical American Fiction

Canine Death in Canonical American Fiction investigates the presence of dogs in literature <BR>through an analysis of classic and popular novels. The author interrogates the validity <BR>of the "man's best friend" trope by using fiction as a telling source of cultural attitudes <BR>towards animals and questions why dog death is so pervasive in literature. From sentimental <BR>tearjerkers like Fred Gipson's Old Yeller to canonical classics like Toni Morrison's The Bluest <BR>Eye and John Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath, this book examines the wealth of human-dog <BR>relations that the literary archive does not currently address and complicates prevalent <BR>assumptions of this relationship as inherently altruistic and symbiotic. Amelia Labenski <BR>argues that dogs carry a heavy symbolic weight in and outside of literature, where they <BR>often function as moral alibis or romantic stand-ins for our other, more explicitly harmful, <BR>relationships with animals. These arguments bring to bear a useful discussion about the <BR>role fiction can play in how we re-envision our relationships with animals of all kinds and the <BR>environment which we all share.