A DOG’S TALE

MARK TWAIN

Q; WHAT ARE THE MAJOR THEMES OF MARK TWAIN IN

HIS SHORT STORY ‘A DOG’S TALE’?

MAJOR THEMES:
THEME OF LANGUAGE:
In the beginning of the story, Aileen talks about how her mother learns new and
complex words of vocabulary by listening to the humans in their homes or with the
children in the Sunday school. Aileen then says that her mother learnt those words
to show them off in front of the other dogs and trick them into thinking about how
educated she is. The other dogs would get envious of her and respect her in the
gatherings. Aileen’s mother used the complicated vocabulary to even make
stranger dogs feel embarrassed or inferior.
The theme of language is represented in such a way which shows how important it
is to use words or vocabulary to build an impression. However, in the case of
Aileen’s mother, it was a fake impression as she didn’t know the meanings of the
words she learnt and showed off.

THEME OF SELF-SACRIFICE:
By the time chapter 2 starts, the readers see that Aileen is all grown up and is
already sold to a new family. Before she parts ways with her mother, she tells
Aileen to always think about others who are in need. She tells Aileen to sacrifice
herself without thinking about the results for whoever is in need.
Aileen’s mother tells her that dogs do not get rewarded in the after-life like humans
do, so it is important for dogs to do something in their life that will make a life of a
dog worth living.

THEME OF FAMILY:
The readers see that Aileen is bought by a family that is very loving of her and who
adores her a lot. Aileen keeps remembering her mother’s words throughout her life
and this tells the readers how important families are.
Aileen gets her own puppy and we see her undying love for it when her master
uses her puppy for an experiment that results in the puppy’s death. She snuggles
her puppy in its intense pain and licks its blood in hopes of saving it from the
painful struggle.
By the end of the story, Aileen dies after waiting for her buried puppy to grow out
as a beautiful plant after its death. She waits by her puppy’s grave for two weeks
without food and water and eventually joins her puppy in the realm of death.

INHUMANISM OF HUMANS:
This theme is very ironic as human beings are supposed to be the creatures with
great humanity, kindness and softness. However, mark twain reveals the true
selfish nature of humans by showing us the character of Aileen’s master who is a
scientist.
He conducts an experiment on Aileen’s puppy that would result in blindness. Even
though he secedes in his experiment, it also causes the puppy to die in its mother’s
arms.
After the experiment, the master orders one of his servants heartlessly to bury the
puppy. It shows the cruel and cold nature of human beings.
At the point in the story when the nursery catches fire, Aileen saves the master’s
baby but in return she is struck by his stick which results in Aileen’s injury on the
leg which causes her to limp.

NO RECIPROCITY:
The theme of lack of reciprocity exists in the short story when the readers see that
even though Aileen risks her life to save the master’s baby from the fire, at first,
she is struck by her master and later on the master uses Aileen’s puppy to conduct
his cruel experiment.
The readers see that even when Aileen loved the human family with all her heart,
the master did not return the love at all.