When the Emperor Was Divine – White Dog
Salmon, rice, and eggs. That sounds like a fairly tasty meal, and certainly not the standard slop a dog might expect to receive. However, this is the final meal of White Dog. Why does the woman act with this small yet significant amount of care towards this dog, who she knows is not long for this world?
After finishing his treat, the dog and the woman share an expression of affection, as she "[rubs] his stomach and his tail [thumps] against the wooden steps" (10). As dogs are prone to do, White Dog trusts his owner completely. She has cared for him, and in turn he remains loyal to her. White Dog then loyally follows the woman across the yard, to the tree where he will meet his end. As readers, it becomes clear to us what White Dog's fate is to be the moment the woman ties him to this tree, and assures him that "'You've been a good dog'" (11). But White Dog makes no such realization. Or perhaps he does. Perhaps he knows what it to come, but even so obeys the woman's commands: '"Hush,'" "'Roll over,'" "'Play dead'" (11). These words all command White Dog into submission: a state into which he willingly goes with no regard for his own interests, simply those of the one who has shown him kindness, given him food, and cared for his through his ailments.
White Dog, then, represents loyalty to those who have cared for you, and his death symbolizes the fact that the woman and her family are now alone and totally othered within America.
I really appreciated this blog post, as I just wrote a similar one myself. They way in which you describe the dog's death, then relate it to the situation occurring in the book is very complex, deep, and well thought. Great blog post!
ReplyDeleteI found your blog post to be very interesting and as I was reading, a question popped into my mind. It is clear that no pets are allowed at the internment camps, but even so White dog didn't have to die. In the novel it says that they gave their cat away and let their pet bird fly away. Why couldn't White Dog have gone and lived with another family or just become a stray, why was his fate death while the other pets survived? It seems to serve as a metaphor of the Japanese in the United States. White Dog trusted his owner and was betrayed just like the Japanese by the government and the citizens that acted unjustly towards them.
ReplyDelete