In “Going to the Dogs,” the narrator’s perspective on Phyllis and Bonnie is heavily influenced by the past experiences he had with his own wife. As the narrator states, his own wife “is a slender, petite woman who bought all her clothes in the children’s section of the department store…. But she didn’t have much of a presence in the house; there just wasn’t enough of her to occupy the space.” (Ford 102) This expert serves to shows the discontentment the narrator has in his own married life, as well as to show a contrast between his wife and Phyllis and Bonnie. He established early on he thinks these women are large, which is the exact opposite of his wife. This contrast makes him far more receptive to the women than he might usually be, for the simple fact they’re not like his wife. He seems enthralled by these women, saying, “these women seemed to fill everything and to make it seem like thanksgiving was already here, being that big never seemed to have a good side before but now it did.” (102) This excerpt shows he believes these women fit the standard his wife did not. However, the most important aspect of thisquotationt is he acknowledges he did not always see the benefit in bigger people. He was only allowed to come to this conclusion because they represent the polar opposite of his wife, with whom he is currently angry.
The author even establishes that the narrator is even annoyed by Phyllis at times. Yet despite this annoyance, he says” I felt like I could grow to like Phyllis better in a matter of time.” (Ford 107) This statement is presumably incorrect as he could not even grow to respect his own wife in the time they were married. This is not respect for Phyllis but the narrator finding novelty in something so unlike his own wife. If he had respected these women, he would have not lied about his name or the fact he going to move soon.
Overall, the narrator’s opinions of Phyllis and Bonnie are not based on their characters but rather on the fact their body type differs from his own wife. Because of this difference, they represent a chance for him to escape the current reality he is in with his wife.
I had a lot of similar thoughts whenever I first read this story; it was ironic how he held these two women up in such a positive light considering the person that he was married to he seemed (at best) disappointed with. Maybe he also felt like her personality was lacking and that her small body was a reflection of that, but that may also be that I read too much into what I thought were parallels though. I definitely agree that Phyllis and Bonnie were more fixations rather than anything else purely because they were so different from the woman and life that that he was accustomed to. Another thing that I found interesting was how arrogant he came off as, but he still wanted more attention. In response to Bonnie saying that he had good arms on p. 107, it said: “I liked that. It made me feel good. It made me feel reckless, as if I had killed a deer myself and had a lot of ideas to show to the world.” It felt self-congratulatory, and maybe he thought that if he were to entertain Bonnie and Phyllis that it would fill some void that he felt in his own life.
I agree with both of you. The narrator does fixate on their bodies early on and draws comparisons to his wife. This is a common trait with all of Ford’s male narrators. They comment in some way about a female character’s body and they are usually disinterested in it. However, I don’t think he used Bonnie as a chance to escape from his reality, but as a way to prove his own sexual prowess and desirability. You remember she flirted and complimented him and the good feelings he felt after he had sex with her. I believe this ties into his masculinity issues.