No Dogs Bark
- Submitted by: dmbsahs11
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- Category: English: Novels
- Date Submitted: 03/14/2011 06:53 PM
- Pages: 5
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No Dogs Bark
Would you help someone even if you hated them? What would it take for you to help them? As the reader we find ourselves in the place of a man who finds himself forced to answer these exact questions. The beginning of the story finds a father in the unusual situation of literally carrying his son on his back. We discover right away that the two characters have a poor relationship with one another. In the short story “No Dogs Bark” written by Juan Rulfo, A father struggles physically and emotionally to reach the nearest town in order to get the necessary help for his wounded and troubled son. The author attempts to show the possible changes of different people after the death of a loved one. The father makes a difficult decision to save his life despite the remorse he feels.
The point of view in this short story is third person limited focusing more on the father than the son. The chosen point of view stays consistent throughout the whole story. The thoughts and feelings of the father are often told by the narrator instead of through his own mind. We rarely are told how the son feels except for when the father asks “How do you feel?” or “Do you feel bad?” (16). This story is told almost completely through dialogue. From the characters’ speech the reader must make inferences about their relationship and the events they have experienced. We are forced to learn about the characters through their implied actions. From the point of view the son feels disconnected from the story because he has minimal
Burke 2
reaction and feeling towards his father. The story should have been told from the point of view of one of the characters to make the narrator more reliable. I think this point of view was not effective because it left the readers still curious about important details that were never mentioned. From a different point of view in this story we would be more likely to understand the significance of the question “And you...
Would you help someone even if you hated them? What would it take for you to help them? As the reader we find ourselves in the place of a man who finds himself forced to answer these exact questions. The beginning of the story finds a father in the unusual situation of literally carrying his son on his back. We discover right away that the two characters have a poor relationship with one another. In the short story “No Dogs Bark” written by Juan Rulfo, A father struggles physically and emotionally to reach the nearest town in order to get the necessary help for his wounded and troubled son. The author attempts to show the possible changes of different people after the death of a loved one. The father makes a difficult decision to save his life despite the remorse he feels.
The point of view in this short story is third person limited focusing more on the father than the son. The chosen point of view stays consistent throughout the whole story. The thoughts and feelings of the father are often told by the narrator instead of through his own mind. We rarely are told how the son feels except for when the father asks “How do you feel?” or “Do you feel bad?” (16). This story is told almost completely through dialogue. From the characters’ speech the reader must make inferences about their relationship and the events they have experienced. We are forced to learn about the characters through their implied actions. From the point of view the son feels disconnected from the story because he has minimal
Burke 2
reaction and feeling towards his father. The story should have been told from the point of view of one of the characters to make the narrator more reliable. I think this point of view was not effective because it left the readers still curious about important details that were never mentioned. From a different point of view in this story we would be more likely to understand the significance of the question “And you...