How to Steal a Dog

The threat of social exclusion is a key impetus behind Georgina’s dog-stealing scheme. She makes clear from the outset that her decision to steal the dog coincides with her snooty middle-class friend Luanne finding out that she lives in a car. To Georgina, the uncertainty over when this humiliating situation will end is intolerable, and she seeks a fast, if illegal, route to putting things right and reclaiming her place in the status quo.

O’Connor shows the pain of Georgina’s humiliation when her circumstances cannot be concealed as easily as she would like. Markers of car-living and poverty become inscribed on her body, as she cannot wash or maintain her clothes to the same standards. She also cannot attend the same extracurricular activities as her friends because she has to help her mother with household tasks. Georgina’s continued wish to conceal what is painfully apparent, in addition to her absence from activities that will bond her with her peers, leads to her isolation. As she becomes increasingly isolated, Georgina retreats into her mind and the imaginative dog-stealing scheme that she thinks will magically restore her to the same standard of living as everyone else. For Georgina, reclaiming the appearance of her former identity is crucial to her ability to accept herself.