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1. ROBERT AND THE DOG
KEN SARO-WIWA
BY: MATÍAS RIPOLL TOMÁS BRAUN AND FRANCISCO
MONTOYA

2. PLOT
The story is about a steward, by the name of Robert, who works in a mansion, in Nigeria. He serves a man,
who is a doctor, and later on in the story, a wife. At the beginning of the story, he treats him well as they
are foreign people and don't know much about this work of serving. This is appreciated from his point of
view, as he was discriminated and not treated well in all the other houses he had served. The mistress
brings with her a dog, which ruins Robert's life. He now feels he is not being treated as before and realizes
that the dog is given lots of new freedoms and that he is being treated like a human. A hatred is triggered
and grown inside Robert's mind towards the dog, due to his jealous position. At the end, during his duty of
taking care of the dog, as the authority had left on a trip, he left the house with his food, milk and money
for his family, causing as a consequence the dog's death.

3. CHARACTERS
- Robert: He lives in a poor hovel in a jungle, which has a humid environment and a floor made of
mud and Robert is also an Nigerian servant in a gorgeous mansion. He is well-treated until he starts
to be forgotten by the doctor and his wife, because of the new dog, which he hates now. Due to his
anger towards this animal, he ends up killing him. Robert is jealous, poor, wild(as he kills an
innocent animal), senseless(ends up with no job and therefore no food) and feels discriminated,
segregated and inferior.
- Husband: He is a doctor who is at the beginning of the story is single and then marries a woman
with a new dog, who replaces Robert as a very valued person in the house. He and his wife then
segregate the steward.
- Wife: Enters in the middle of the story with a dog, which would create Robert's anger. She and his
husband then segregate the steward.
- The dog: He is a harmless animal who ends up being killed because of Robert's jealousy of him
being treated like a human. He is innocent and a victim.

4. Setting
In time: The story takes place during the 20th century.
In place: The story takes place in Africa, Nigeria. On the one hand, the steward serves
in a wealthy and rich mansion, where goods are luxurious and even the dog´s food and
settee is expensive. On the other hand, Robert lives in a neighbourhood by the name
ajegunle, termed as “The Jungle”. The filth and quagmire was present in this hovel,
whose floor was made of mud.

5. PROCESS/CIRCLE OF LIFE
At the beginning of the story, this is not showed, as the steward, Robert is well-treated
and joyful with the situation. However, throughout the story, Robert's jealousy and
anger grows and is triggered due to the dog's appearance in the story. The dog is now
treated like a human and given an expensive settee and valuable food. On the other
hand, Robert becomes and animal in the story as he is now inferior and ends up
murdering an innocent dog.

6. Criticism
After reading the story, we can see that the theme of criticism is
deeply touched. Robert is constantly criticizing how can a dog be
better treated than a human being. He says that, while his family
is starving, eating pieces of eva because they don’t have nothing
else to eat, and living in a mud-made house, this dog is living in
an expensive settee, having all the food, bones and tinned milk, it
could possibly wish. Moreover, is this hatred and jealousy that
drives Robert crazy, preferring to be that dog than being a
human being and, at the end, killing the poor animal.

7. Themes
- Jealousy.
- Hatress.
- Inequality.
- Segregation.

8. Vocabulary
-Bachelor: to be single
-Steward: butler
-Wag: Joker/Shake
-Quagmire: a soft boggy area of land that gives way underfoot.
-Fuss: scandal
-Filth: Dirt
-Eba: African word for rubber
- ‘Who born dog?’: This phrase means that Robert wished he was able to born that dog. His jealousy was so extreme to
the point he preferred to be that dog that to be a human.
-’His anger welled’:This phrase means that his anger grew
-Settee: The place where the dog slept
-Tethered: to be tied

9. Message
The writer of the story wants to give us a message, which are:
● To value human life above anything else
● Jealousy brings hatred