Essay About Hurried Ride And Short Story

Live Like A Dog
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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 Londons streets they arrive at Miriams 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 hed 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