WHOSE DOG—?
Classification. This seven or eight hundred word short-story illustrates the extreme type. The setting is the end of a pier; the time, only a few minutes; the action represents a crisis in the life of one character, the village drunkard; the struggle—which culminates in the suicide of the drunkard—is between him and society. The unities are, therefore, well conserved; the singleness of effect is pronounced. It is a tour de force in its manipulation of story elements.
Is the motivation for John’s suicide sufficient?
What social relation does the policeman bear to the drunkard? What contrast does the author employ?
Thematic Value. Society is not arraigned: a case is posed. Has it propaganda value?