I’ve been thinking about all the dog metaphors and images in The Gangster We Are All Looking For, especially with regards to the last sentence of the book. There are multiple mentions of dogs in the story, most prominently the one that Ba picks up off the side of the road and adopts. I’m still trying to figure out the significance behind it, but I pulled out the three quotes that stood out the most to me in case anybody else has any theories. The first quote reflects loneliness and maybe abandonment. The second quote calls to mind the ouroboros symbol and the cyclical nature of the world. The last quote grapples with the idea of ownership, control, and freedom, but I’m not sure if there is a connecting thread between all three.
“Ba had climbed out the bedroom window and was sitting in the shadow of the palm trees on the front lawn of the house, staring at the moon like a lost dog, and also crying” (11).
“She said it would be a good thing if he rolled off. But later I heard someone climb the tree, and all night two bodies rolled across my ceiling. Slowly and firmly they pressed against my sleep, the Catholic schoolgirl and the Buddhist gangster, two dogs chasing each other’s tails. They have been running like this for so long, they have become one dog, one tail” (71).
“As my parents stood on the beach leaning into each other, I ran, like a dog unleashed, toward the lights” (114).
