By Cierra Buchholz
Buster: A Dog, by George Pelecanos, is an 88 page novella narrated by Buster, the family dog, that gives readers a glimpse into several types of familial hardships. Buster, a proud purebred boxer, makes his way through five homes in Washington, DC, and experiences the private tragedies that take place behind the doors of every home, from poverty, to abuse, to homophobia, and organized crime.
This novella is a fast-paced journey detailing a dog's entire lifespan and the experiences that shape him. Because of the story's short length, each sentence packs a punch and puts readers right alongside Buster. Nothing is ever stagnant; Buster's life is full of change and unsurety, but readers get a sense of grounding through the consistent setting. Pelecanos achieves this through his masterful worldbuilding, painting vivid pictures of the mean streets of DC, putting readers in the grimy alleyways Buster often winds up wandering.
The first home Buster encounters is with Miss Darcia, a single mother of color, in a rough neighborhood called “The Eights”. Their money struggles are what forces Buster to be rehomed. From this home Buster learns about loss. Being taken from everything he knew, his dog mother and adopted human family, sends him into a state of confusion. He couldn’t quite understand what was happening in the moment, but being forced to leave his mother was his first run-in with the soul-crushing loss that comes with love. A message that is clear from this experience is one of strength, which is conveyed to him from the goodbye with his mother, communicated to him from the look in her eyes. A message he would carry for the rest of his life. Buster is then swept away to his second home, which isn’t nearly as loving as Miss Darcia’s. It is a place inhabited by an alcoholic father, his wife, and their young son. In this home, Buster tries to protect the young boy and give him companionship, but after the boy is caught using Buster to play dress up, he is banished to living in the backyard. Buster is left out in the unforgiving heat with little food or water. He is tied up on a short leash, giving him hardly any room to walk or relieve himself. Finally, after a few grueling weeks outside, Buster is removed by animal services.
His third owner is much kinder than the last. A gentle old man living alone takes Buster in while grieving the loss of his wife and previous dog. Buster, by now, is well acquainted with loss, but not death. The man's age quickly becomes a roadblock in his care for Buster, and for his own good he is given to the man's son. This is where Buster reaches his peak, or so we are led to think. It is a space where his strength and pride are embraced. He lives lavishly, strutting around his penthouse decked out in a diamond collar. Underneath his newfound glamor, the darkness of the city begins to reemerge through violence and the accompanying crimes. His owner is a powerful man, notorious for running illegal marijuana dealing. The power, his pride, and the illegal activities have the expected violent outcome for the son, and Buster is forced back onto the streets.
Buster, now no longer a puppy, is beginning to feel the effects of aging. Aware now of death, he understands that his story will soon be coming to an end. Putting his ego aside, he shows gentleness to a young girl on a playground as a subtle plea for help. This act leads him to his fifth and final home, in a slice of suburbia, with an upper-class cookie-cutter white family, the Millers. Being vulnerable allows him to live out the rest of his life in comfort, passing on the lesson of compassion and impermanence to the young girl who took him in.
The reader follows Buster as he grows from a pup to a senior dog, but his development is more than just physical. Each home shapes him, teaching him the rules we, as members of a society, all must abide by to make it through this world. He is born prideful, having felt like the king of his small castle in The Eights, but quickly learns the necessity of self-preservation to survive when he is between homes. Despite this, he never lets the world turn him hateful, as he had seen the horrors that stem from hate from the cruel father in the second home. Surprisingly, as he ages, quite the opposite happens; he learns showing kindness and vulnerability can be even more powerful than running or baring his teeth.
Through sometimes humorous and other times heartfelt moments, Pelecanos uses the impermanence of a dog's time spent in one home to bring forth the larger discussion of the impermanence of life and its ever-changing circumstances. However, he never seems swayed or discouraged, he simply accepts this as life's cycle. When Buster is repeatedly forced to move along from those he loves, he keeps their memory (no matter how fuzzy) and lessons with him. Readers are left to reflect on those who have come and gone, leaving both positive and negative impacts, shaping us into the beings we are today.
Cierra Buchholz is currently a Northern Arizona University student pursuing her Bachelors in English. She has the pleasure to work doing what she loves at the Franke College of Business as a writing tutor and at the College of Arts and Letters on the marketing team. She is an Editor for the Flagstaff Green Zine and Terrain.org, as well as an Intern for Eggtooth Edition.
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