ALL ABOUT A DOG

 

About the author:

A.G Gardiner

Alfred George Gardiner (1 865-1 946) was a British journalist and author. His essays, written under the pen-name, Alpha of the Plough are highly regarded His uniqueness lay in his ability to teach the basic truths of life in an easy and amusing manner. The Pillars of Society, Pebbles on the Shore, Many Furrows and Leaves in the Wind are some of his well-known writings.

Synopsis:

An edited version of Gardiner ‘s essay of the same name, the author observes how a bus conductor makes a lady go up to the uncovered top of a double-decker bus on a freezing evening just because she is carrying a dog. While watching the incident and its reaction among other passengers, the author wonders whether rules should be tempered with goodwill in order to make them more humane.

Summary:

In All About a Dog, we have the theme of determination, class, resentment, control, power, defiance and change. Taken from his Leaves in the Wind collection the story is narrated in the first person by an unnamed narrator and the reader realises from the beginning of the story that Gardiner may be exploring the theme of determination.

The bus conductor is adamant that the woman with the dog should take the dog to the top of the bus. The woman on the other hand has other ideas and it’s not prepared to change her mind. She too has rules that she will not break for the time being and only changes her mind when she feels utterly defeated by the conductor, who throughout the story appears to be happy with the fact that he is in control of the situation. He tries to move the woman upstairs which may be seen as gender biasness as one does not expect the conductor to do the same should a man come onto the bus with a dog. With issues of gender and class bias being raised, it might also be important that everybody who is on the bus supports the woman and her refusal to go to the top of the bus. However, it is more telling that the same individuals lose patience and end up getting off the bus altogether. The sense of unity does not last.

   

The evening is bitterly cold which in many ways mirrors how the conductor feels towards the woman with the dog. The woman’s tone with the conductor at the start of the story also suggests a tone of defiance. The end of the story is interesting as the narrator engages with the conductor and explains to him that he took his rules too seriously and by doing so he became part of the problem too. The narrator has an alternative take on how things should have happened and it is interesting that the conductor does not necessarily disagree with the narrator.

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