Short Fiction · Chapter
The White Dog explained
Alexandra Ivanovna, a cutter in a workshop, is called a dog by the seamstress Tanechka during a quarrel.
What happens
Alexandra Ivanovna, a cutter in a workshop, is called a dog by the seamstress Tanechka during a quarrel. Humiliated and enraged, she returns home, where the moonlight stirs a primal longing in her. She speaks with the old woman Stepanida, who admits she is a crow and caws at her. Later, Alexandra Ivanovna transforms into a white dog and bays at the moon, only to be shot by a man with a gun, after which she reverts to a naked, bleeding woman.
Themes in this chapter
Nature and the Supernatural
The chapter explores the transformation of Alexandra Ivanovna into a white dog and the old woman Stepanida's identity as a crow, blurring the line between human and animal, natural and supernatural.
Freedom and Confinement
Alexandra Ivanovna feels confined by her work and social interactions, finding a wild, primal freedom in her transformation under the moon, only to be violently shot and returned to human form.
Characters to notice
- Alexandra Ivanovna
The cutter who is insulted as a dog and later transforms into a white dog under the moon.
- Tanechka
The young seamstress who calls Alexandra Ivanovna a dog.
- Stepanida
The old woman who reveals herself as a crow and caws at Alexandra Ivanovna.
Key passages
“Alexandra Ivanovna, you are a downright dog!”
Tanechka calls Alexandra Ivanovna a dog directly.
This insult triggers Alexandra Ivanovna's rage and sets the chapter's central metaphor in motion.
“Yes, I am a crow. Only I have no wings. But there are times when I caw, and I caw, and tell of woe.”
Stepanida admits she is a crow and caws to foretell misfortune.
Reveals the supernatural nature of Stepanida and her connection to omens.
“The dog gave a groan, jumped up on its hind legs, became a naked woman, who, her body covered with blood, started to run, all the while groaning, weeping and raising cries of distress.”
The white dog, after being shot, transforms back into a bleeding naked woman.
Climactic moment where the supernatural transformation is violently reversed.