The Power of the Dog

Phil is described at the beginning of this chapter as having an ability to see the true nature of animals and people alike. He has a gift for seeing in the eyes of a person what kind of temperament that person has, and can sense any lack of confidence. Because of George’s out-of-the-ordinary behavior of late, Phil knows that something is up.

While working in his blacksmith shop, Phil recalls memories of his youth and the way George and he were raised. Modesty, particularly as it relates to the body, was one of the more esteemed values in the Burbank household. This modesty of the body and of being naked carried into George and Phil’s adulthood. Phil then reflects on alcohol consumption and how the ranch-hands would typically abuse it and get very drunk. His memories then shift to an incident in which a ranch-hand put small sticks of dynamite into the rear of magpies only to watch them fly away and explode. Phil was ambivalent about this act of cruelty; although he believed the killing of the parasitic magpie to be necessary, he was conflicted about how the killing was performed.

George continues to act differently, and his typically predictable schedule changes, which bothers Phil.