Compare And Contrast A Blizzard Under Blue Sky By Pam Houston

Perceiving Dogs Equal vs. Property In general, dogs are associated with loyalty, companionship and aide. In Pam Houston’s “A Blizzard Under Blue Sky,” the narrator attempts to treat her depression through experiencing the adventure of spending a night outside in the cold weather of Utah. The narrator is successful in this adventure with the support and assistance of her two dogs, Hailey and Jackson. On the contrary, in Jack London’s “To Build a Fire,” a “man” is on the Yukon Trial, on his way to his group of friends where he encounters a dog. The dog has a poor relationship with the man but remains with him until his death. The similarities and differences between the two relationships make a comment on interactions between humans and animals.

The first expression of their strong relationship is when the narrator describes her two dogs, Hailey and Jackson, as “my two best friends, my yin and yang of dogs” (Houston 58). Yin and Yang is the concept of two halves making a whole and the reference to the dogs, as one conveys how the narrator cannot live with only Hailey or only Jackson because each has its own unique value that is irreplaceable. An object that is irreplaceable defines the object as more than simply property or “just an animal” and an inner connection. When the narrator is skiing, Jackson tells the narrator, “‘Come on, Mom…Ski harder, go faster, climb higher’” to encourage her (Houston 60). The dog’s reference to the narrator as “mom” confirms that their relationship involves a great amount of love and care similar to one between a mother and her child. This warmth and closeness is depicted again when Hailey sleeps inside the narrator’s “mummy bag” and Jackson lies on top of it (Houston 61). Aside from nurturing with warmth and support, the dogs also provide help and guidance to the narrator that is comparable to advice coming from a parent. On their way to set up their cave, Jackson “won’t step off the trail for any reason, not even to chase rabbits, and he gets nervous and angry if I do” (Houston 59). Furthermore, the nervous feeling is comparable to when parents worry about the safety of their child when separated from them.

Although befriending is part of the relationship, the most essential part is equality between the dog and the human. In “To Build a Fire,” London suggests equality between human and animal when describing the blood of the man “was alive like the dog, and like the dog it wanted to hide away and cover itself up from the fearful cold” (London 16). Similarly, in “A Blizzard under Blue Sky,” the personification of the dogs makes them the same or equal to the humans. The narrator describes Jackson as parent would describe their child to a friend or family member; “he’s tireless; he won’t go skiing with me unless I let him lead” (Houston 59). Equality is key to discovering the value of a dog as nothing less than a human