Week 1 Ferlinghetti

The animorphism of the Dog is a reflection on the nature of man. The context of the speaker's tone is not one of a feral animal. In fact, the speaker describes a analytical dog that dissects the world around him, "He doesn't hate cops/He simply has no need for them." As man's best friend, this choice to use a dog is one made to more easily symbolize man's own loyalty to authority figures. Men are dogs and in this case it is literal. The obident dog is brought in to parallel the complacent man in the world. Throughout the poem, the dog wanders the world looking at "drunks in doorways" and "tough policemen" but does nothing. The dog is waiting for "some victorious answer/ to everything." By the third page there is a line break with a change from traditional line form to a more avant-garde style of line ordering. This is also meant to symbolize the change in narration and also thought. The wandering dog becomes a "barking / democratic dog." The poem becomes increasing scarcastic and darker in it's message about societal obediance.