Eva Hornung’s Dog Boy, explores the life of Romochka, a four-year-old boy who does not have the choice, but to venture off into the natural world because his parents abandon him for unknown reasons. In doing so, he follows a dog from the streets of Moscow, Russia that takes him into the lair that consists of a pack of dogs. While the dogs take Romochka in, he learns that he has no other decision, but to adapt to the nature of the dog species. Therefore, he has to bring himself to a lower state of being in order to survive in this new environment he has brought himself into. While humans and dogs are two fairly different species, Romochka eventually adapts, but essentially does not know which species he identifies with towards the end of the…show more content… In doing so, he learns a different set of skills that will eventually bring himself down on the great chain of being since animals are directly below humans. He tries to communicate with the dogs as he would with any other human being. Hornung says, “Romochka was trying to make the puppies listen to a story. He had become bored with puppy play, with the repetition of stalk, chase, wrestle, growl, maul, and sleep. […] ‘Stupid dogs!’ he shouted, but words had lost their spell” (Hornung 24). What Romochka does not realize at first, is that that is the way dogs communicate with each other. Their capacity of language does not function through words like humans, but through a variety of noises and movements. He soon learns these symbolic actions that imply certain meanings. Hornung says, “Everything was ritual. He began to emulate the greeting, in which every absence was healed. He made his body joyous too, his head low, mouth small; he yelped in delight and licked the mouth corners of the elder dogs as they entered. The greeting was also the moment of all confessions. Body joyous or body contrite, pure of spirit, or guilt ridden, waiting for punishment” (Hornung 27). Although Romochka was frustrated with the dogs at first because they would not listen to him speak, he learns to imitate their way of speaking in order to adapt to their system of
