A Dog's Life

In this section, Squirrel is an elderly dog and may not survive another frigid winter. The plot’s tension rises as Squirrel’s age affects her ability to survive. Her eyes become filmy, her shoulder aches, and she moves at a slower pace. In addition to her diminishing senses and speed, she has a bleeding paw. Squirrel endures these difficulties with her typical determination, but it’s clear that she faces a potentially impossible battle through a bitter winter without assistance. The life-and-death stakes demonstrate that age is reducing Squirrel’s ability to recover from injuries and the effectiveness of her survival skills, thematically revealing another aspect of Animal Resilience and Ability to Adapt. This elevated tension provokes Squirrel to give in to Susan’s hospitality. Squirrel is aware that she isn’t doing well alone any longer, so her dire situation causes her to finally allow a human to be her caretaker. Her survival instincts must change from insisting that she sustain herself in the wild to accepting a place where she can rest, recover, and live peacefully within a human’s home as a pet.

Susan isn’t only a generous caregiver for Squirrel but is also her friend and a mirror to her. In terms of independence, Susan is adamant about living on her own and taking care of herself—viewpoints that Squirrel shares. In the scene with Mrs. Oliver, Susan shows her self-sufficient nature, stubbornness, and devotion to Squirrel because she refuses to let Mrs. Oliver intimidate her. Susan stands up for herself and Squirrel (“Addie”), believing in their capabilities: “‘How are you going to take care of this dog? She’s too large for you to pick up. And she’s decrepit. Is she even housebroken?’ ‘Of course she’s housebroken. […] Addie is good company. […] Addie is here to stay” (175). Like Squirrel, she refuses to surrender during challenges or to give up her freedom, making her a mirror to Squirrel. Susan knows that she can take care of Squirrel and herself, despite Mrs. Oliver’s doubts. Although they make exceptions for each other as companions, both Susan and Squirrel take pride in their self-sufficiency and value their quiet, liberated life together. They continue to enjoy each other’s company and find strong connections to one another, from their old achy bones to their will to live freely. Thus, Susan thematically exemplifies the positive aspects of both Human Influence on Animal Lives and The Search for Belonging and Companionship.

The novel’s structure of Squirrel looking back on her past reaches its conclusion in the Epilogue. At this point, the novel returns to the beginning, revealing that the Prologue and Epilogue are a present-day framework containing a long flashback of memories of the past. Older Squirrel’s point of view thus bookends the story. In these two sections alone, the language shifts from past to present tense. Readers have followed Squirrel back to her current time, where she lives with Susan in harmony. Her flashbacks all led to a satisfying conclusion in which she finds a loving forever home. She tells her story through flashbacks, increasing the impact of her self-reflection, her experiences, and other characters through the wisdom she gained over time. If the story used present tense from the start to the end, Squirrel couldn’t have examined her past with the same depth and maturity—or have dropped clues about her current time with Susan. The memoir style allows Squirrel’s meditative mind the space it deserves to complete her autobiography. After all, the novel’s subtitle is The Autobiography of a Stray, so it’s fitting that Squirrel finishes her self-told biography by reaching her current time. This full-circle ending indicates that Squirrel has journeyed to no longer be a stray at last.