The Power of the Dog

Peter recalls his time in Herndon with his friend with whom he played chess and dreamed big. Like Peter, his friend was introverted and solitary, and they used to visit the train station and the man who worked there because for them, it symbolized escape. As he reminisces, he notices George’s things and how these are the things of a “man who had not yet proved himself” (229). Rose calls for Peter to come have a chat with her. She is evidently drunk, and the conversation is strained and at times incoherent. She tells him a story from when she was in school. Toward the end of the conversation, Peter compliments his mother, saying that she is beautiful even now, and Rose feels shame that he construed their conversation to mean she needed some kind of affirmation from him. Peter intimates that Rose does not have to drink nor live the kind of life she has been living and then promises to her that he is going to make sure she doesn’t.

Phil continues to braid the rawhide rope and looks forward to it being completed so that he can give it to Peter. Peter watches him braid, and Phil tells him of a place out beyond the hills where piles of rocks form a trail.