While it would seem that the pack of wild dogs that wander in and out of the story would be one of the obvious motifs in this story of Dogtown, I’d have to say that while Diamant has brought them in at the opening of the story and mentions them now and then in relation to the residents that take them in, they are not a huge force of any sort within the narrative.
Judy Rhines has a special relationship with her dog, Greyling, and eventually Oliver and Polly keep a pet, but there is little to indicate that the dogs have come to depend upon the people, have any special protective instincts towards them, and they are only brought up in this late chapter again as a ‘group’ of any meaning.
When Ruth first arrived in Dogtown, there were nearly twenty-five dogs in the hills, living like a nearby but separate neighborhood, at peace with the people next door–a little standoffish, perhaps, but friendly enough. By the time Easter moved to Gloucester, there were no more than eight of them left, and those few were bony and mangy. (p. 216)
It’s true that as the characters of Dogtown age they move away from their desolation and into town where they are more easily able to survive and get around. Perhaps Diamant has mimicked their abandonment of their homes and way of life in the gradual dying out of the pack, but it’s as an afterthought, almost a contrivance that wasn’t established all that well anyway.
Metaphor, motif, and meaning are astounding tools when used correctly. It cannot be forced or obvious, and here again, Diamant disappoints.
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