Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Heart of a Dog, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Revolution and Regression
Social Class and Hierarchy
Science, Nature, and Morality
Dignity, Loyalty, and Respect
Summary
Analysis
During a snowstorm, in the doorway of a government cafeteria, a dog howls and tells the reader that it’s dying. A few hours ago, the cook caught him going through the garbage and threw hot water at him, scalding him badly. Now, it’s almost dark and he’s thinking about food. He complains that people always abuse him, even though he’s usually tough enough to get away. But the boiling water has scalded through his fur, leaving him with no protection from the cold Russian night. So the dog thinks he’ll either get pneumonia or starve to death. The dog remembers Vlas, a great cook who used to work for Count Tolstoy and always reserved some spare bones for stray dogs. In contrast, the Soviet cooks are scammers who serve rotten meat to the gullible and helpless.
Bulgakov opens the novel with his characteristic bitter satire. He makes subtle jokes about dogs’ unique way of perceiving the world and relatively simple instincts and needs. By presenting the world of mid-1920s Moscow from the perspective of a stray dog, he also mocks Soviet literature’s tendency to valorize poverty and suffering. And by setting the scene outside a government cafeteria, Bulgakov introduces his spiteful criticism of the Soviet government. Under the old Russian Empire, the dog was treated well; under the new, supposedly egalitarian Soviet Union, he is rejected and forgotten. Of course, he stands in for the Russian people as a whole, who Bulgakov thinks suffered under Soviet corruption.
Themes
The dog sees a young typist (Vasnetsova), who can’t afford to eat anywhere else but the government cafeteria. Her only luxuries in life are the stockings her businessman lover buys her—and he’s probably going to leave her any day, without a second thought. The dog pities the typist, but he pities himself even more. The typist calls the dog over and nicknames him “Sharik.” But then a violent gust of wind upturns her skirt. She complains about the weather and food, then rushes out into the snowstorm. In severe pain, the dog gives up and decides to just let himself die. He thinks “Sharik” (“Little Ball”) is a name for a rich, fat dog and not for him.
The young typist’s plight reflects the Soviet government’s failure to provide for working people—the same class it claims to represent. While the government promises equality, people can only survive because of corruption, like the private favors the typist’s lover pays her. Bulgakov also metaphorically connects the harsh Moscow winter to the harshness of the new, impersonal government, which sacrifices quality in the name of equality. Finally, there’s a hint of satire in Sharik the dog’s excessive self-pity, which Bulgakov compares to the Soviets’ excessive (but seemingly insincere) shows of concern for the proletariat.
Themes
Suddenly, a well-dressed man (Philip) crosses the street. From Philip’s eyes, the dog can tell that he’s a true gentleman. He clearly eats too well to be visiting the disgusting cafeteria, but he briefly does. The dog crawls out of the doorway towards him, and the wind carries away a huge billboard that says, “Is Rejuvenation Possible?” Yes, the dog decides: he smells a horsemeat sausage in the gentleman’s pocket. The dog begs for it, promising his eternal allegiance to the gentleman. The man bends over and says, “Take it! Sharik, Sharik!” The dog comments that he doesn’t mind being called Sharik, and he gobbles up the sausage. The gentleman pets the dog and says he’s “just what I need.”
The gentleman’s dignity, kindness, and air of abundance obviously contrasts with the harsh, unforgiving landscape that has dominated the novel so far. Philip represents the refinement and luxury of the Russian aristocracy, as compared with the barren desperation of the masses. The billboard foreshadows his profession as a doctor performing rejuvenation treatments, but it also clearly points to Sharik’s hope to find a new lease on life through the gentleman’s kindness. Of course, this symbolism is all part of Bulgakov’s satire: readers can tell that he has something sinister in mind with Sharik, who is too dull to notice because he’s a dog. In fact, when Philip operates on Sharik, he doesn’t rejuvenate or improve him—instead, he makes him into a revolting and intolerable humanoid. Therefore, the billboard is also an ironic sign of the way Philip’s experiment fails: Bulgakov seems to think that rejuvenation is not possible. Of course, rejuvenation is always a metaphor for revolution in this book—and Bulgakov’s disdain for the Russian Revolution is already clear.
Themes
Sharik the dog eagerly follows Philip up Prechistenka street, kissing his shoe and clearing him a path through the snow to express his gratitude. When a tomcat smells the sausage and comes onto the sidewalk, Sharik is furious to think that he might have to share, so he angrily growls at the newcomer.
Sharik transforms into Philip’s loyal companion because he recognizes that he’s Philip’s inferior and beholden to his gratitude. (This all changes in the second half of the novel, when Sharik becomes a human and no longer accepts Philip as his superior.) And even though he’s just benefited from a stranger’s generosity, Sharik has no interest in sharing his sausage with another animal. These are both ironic comments on communism and human (and animal) nature. Bulgakov suggests that people thrive and get along best when they obey social hierarchies, and he thinks that most people—especially the masses—are really selfish, even if they say they believe in equality.
Themes
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When they reach Philip’s building, the gentleman offers Sharik another piece of sausage. At first, Sharik is afraid of the building’s doorman (Fyodor), but when the gentleman invites him inside, Sharik is delighted and comments that doormen are evil dog-hating scoundrels. The doorman tells the gentleman, Philip Philippovich, that the government is moving extra tenants into all the apartments except his own. Philip Philippovich leads Sharik upstairs.
Sharik’s narration shows how he’s guided by naïve animal instincts (which, for Bulgakov, means he represents the lower classes). He blindly trusts the hand that feeds him, and he harbors an absurd prejudice against doormen because he can’t step outside of his own perspective. (Later events in the novel disprove this prejudice—Fyodor is one of the book’s most loyal and benevolent characters.) Notably, the apartment building is gaining residents because of Soviet redistribution policies. This illustrates how Philip’s privilege—and the class he represents—is under attack.
Themes
