When Karim attempts to visit Helen, her father, Hairy Back, sends his Great Dane out into the yard after Karim. Rather than attack and bite Karim, the Great Dane corners Karim, mounts him, and ejaculates on Karim's jacket. Karim thinks of this as the ultimate indignity, and indicative of the rampant racism he experiences in the suburbs. He thinks of the Great Dane as representing white London and the way that those people want to exploit Karim for their own gain. Karim often refers to the Great Dane in relation to Hairy Back. Combined, these two figures represent two sides of the racism Karim experiences: Hairy Back is the violent National Front that wants to see him dead, while the Great Dane wants to see Karim alive, but only in a way that serves the Dane. In this respect, both Shadwell and Pyke are iterations of the Great Dane as they want to use Karim's Indian heritage to add marketable flavor to their theatre productions.
The Great Dane Quotes in The Buddha of Suburbia
And we pursued English roses as we pursued England; by possessing these prizes, this kindness and beauty, we stared defiantly into the eye of the Empire and all its self-regard—into the eye of Hairy Back, into the eye of the Great Fucking Dane. We became part of England and yet proudly stood outside it.
The Great Dane Symbol Timeline in The Buddha of Suburbia
