Live Like A Dog

Live like a dog, alone

1. Summary

The third person narrated short story "Live like a dog, alone" is about a woman called Miriam who has just

been picked up by a taxi, after a visit to the hospital. She is talking to the driver who has just said "Now I live

like a dog, alone" (l.1), and this is the pivotal point of the story. They talk together about life, and of how

miserable his is. She tries to cheer him up, and is at the same time considering her own life. She is divorced

from a man who left her flat broke for a young actress. However she got a job and was voted Businesswoman

of the year.

After a hurried ride through London's streets they arrive at Miriam's house and she invites the driver to come in

to have a cup of coffee - actually he asks her first, but she lets him in.

2. Miriam and her life

When reading the story you find out that the main character Miriam is an extremely caring person who needs

to make sure that everybody is happy and satisfied. There are several places in the text that show that. Clear

examples:

"She felt duty-bound to cheer him up" (l. 13)

And another example that shows us how extreme her situation is:

""It was her instinct to cheer people up, in any case (...) The habit had driven her husband mad:

she suspected it was the real reason he'd left her (ll. 63-64)

And even after he had left her, she helped him. When she had become famous and rich he came back for

alimony, and she had just said: "Sauce for the wife must be sauce for the husband. These are the days of

gender equality" (ll. 75-76), and had then paid him the money.

However it is not only the caring site of her that is a problem. It seems like she is a much stressed person

who needs to have everything under control, but her life still needs to happen in a bit of a rush. She has just

been to the hospital - which apparently happens quite often - and she does not bother at all. It has just

become a part of her life. You can see this from the quote in the text:

"She was a regular at the hospital (...)

Studieportalen.dk

Camilla Line Hansen 2.B 22-03-2007

Kommenteringsstil - Live like a dog, alone

It was well after four in the morning before she was out. (...) And she had to be at a meeting by ten in the

morning. A couple of hours' sleep and that would be it" (l.31 + ll. 40-43)

The ride in the cab symbolises her life; fast and uncomfortable. Deep down she does not like the life she lives,

and she is afraid of a life living. However, the red lights they are rushing through, could be her mind saying

stop, and actually she wants to stop, but is somehow prevented from doing it.

In the beginning of the story she finds the driver odd and nothing like her, but later she realizes that they have

a lot in common - she finds out that she also is lonely! A stressed life with meetings and other business

related things prevent her from having a normal social life, with a husband and children.

She changes through the story, and instead of only thinking of other people, she lets the driver in for a cup of

coffee, wanting to know what would happen:

"She would ask him in, there would be sex, they