Neither Wolf Nor Dog

Nonfiction | Autobiography / Memoir | Adult | Published in 1994

A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.

Download PDF

Summary

Background

Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Introduction-Chapter 4

Chapters 5-11

Chapters 12-16

Chapters 17-21

Chapters 22-26

Key Figures

Themes

Symbols & Motifs

Important Quotes

Essay Topics

Tools

Beta

Discussion Questions

Symbols & Motifs

Fatback

Fatback is Dan’s Labrador retriever, and the unofficial fourth member of the road trip at the heart of Neither Wolf Nor Dog. Nerburn positions Fatback as a symbol of Dan’s connection with non-human beings and the spirit world, which Nerburn struggles to understand. In their time on the reservation, Dan tries to explain to Nerburn that he can “understand all the trees, the wind, all the animals, the insects […] everything speaks to me” (69). As evidence of this communication, he calls Fatback to him silently. Nerburn watches in awe as “Fatback [comes] rustling through the tall grasses wagging her tail” (70). When Dan acknowledges her, Fatback “wag[s] her tail furiously, then pushe[s] back off through the weeds” (70). This exchange demonstrates the familiarity and simplicity of Dan’s relationship with non-humans—a connection that baffles Nerburn, reinforcing his characterization as an outsider.

Although Dan initially tells Nerburn that Fatback “just showed up here one day” (13), Nerburn later learns that Fatback belonged to Dan’s late son. According to his granddaughter, Dan believes that his son’s “spirit is in [Fatback]” (246), and he keeps the dog close as a way of staying connected to his son. When the group experiences a ferocious northern wind, Dan tells Nerburn that the wind is bringing “messages from the dead” (286). The fact that Dan brings Fatback with him when he leaves the group to interpret the message suggests that he believes Fatback is a connection to the spirit world.

Nerburn’s Truck

Nerburn’s truck’s mechanical failure in Chapter 9 provides the impetus for the road trip that Nerburn takes with Dan and Grover. The broken truck prevents him from travelling home, and plays a key role in revealing his subconscious prejudices against indigenous people and his desire to leave the reservation. Nerburn describes his truck as a “tidy little Japanese truck” (105) and contrasts it with the “huge Fords or Chevys” (105) he sees around the reservation. When his truck breaks down, Nerburn reluctantly takes it to the reservation’s mechanic, Jumbo. Nerburn’s reservations about Jumbo’s ability to fix his car point to his implicit prejudice against indigenous people. He imagines “piles of greasy wrenches” lurking in “the darkness of Jumbo’s garage,” and contrasts that image with “thoughts of hospital-clean Japanese factories full of intense, fastidious men” (109). These passages suggest that Nerburn believes Jumbo’s small, crowded garage—the result of financial strain across the reservation—prevents him from doing the same work as Japanese mechanics, a group he believes superior because of their tidy aesthetics. Ultimately, Jumbo fixes Nerburn’s car, forcing Nerburn to examine his own perspective and implicit bias.

Windstorms

Throughout Neither Wolf Nor Dog, ferocious windstorms appear as a recurring symbol of the different ways indigenous people (such as Dan and Grover) and the descendants of European colonists (like Nerburn) see the world. Dan and Grover understand various elements—such as wind, thunder, and lightning—as living, independent entities capable of acting intentionally with or against humans. Dan distinguishes between “waziya […] the wind from the north” (285) and “wiyopeyate wichasa […] the man from the west” (284). Because he sees these forces as independent entities, Dan treats them differently: he assures the west wind that “I am your friend” (284) while dismissing the north wind as “cold and cruel” (286). Dan’s personal relationship with these forces of nature represent his distinctly indigenous perspective on the relationship between humans and the environment.

Although Nerburn, like Dan and Grover, was raised in the Great Plains region of the United States, he’s terrified by the windstorms he encounters on the road trip. Nerburn writes that the storms the group encounters have “a malevolence that seem[s] almost personal” (283), and that the wind “[tears at the car as if it want[s] to get in” (283). These descriptions demonstrate Nerburn’s unease with and detachment from natural elements like wind and rain. After the storm, when Dan asks Nerburn about the wind, Nerburn searches for a “meteorological” (285) explanation for wind’s fury. His search for answers in science further highlights his sense of alienation from the natural world, as opposed to Dan’s sense that the elements are relatives.