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A dog named Duke

A Dog Named Duke by William D. Ellis is a story based on the relationship of a dog and his master. The narrator describes how Duke, a pincher Doberman, was loved by his master and in return offered his loyalty to Chuck. It is said that a dog can learn as many as up to 100 words of a human language. Though he cannot speak, he understands them. It’s a beautiful narrative which shows the understanding Chuck and Duke shared and how they felt responsible for each other. Duke, the dog proved to be a loyal pet when the testing time came. Later when Duke met with an accident, Chuck was as worried as he would have been for his own child. The struggle that the dog went through for his master is appreciable. What the doctors and physiotherapists could not do was done by the dog. Marcy, Chuck 's wife, who was so reluctant on having a Doberman at home, was the one to take him to the hospital with much care. The rare friendship between Chuck and Duke is beautifully narrated.

STORY

Chuck Hooper, a competitive young man, was a hard-charging zone sales manager for a chemical company. One autumn night, he was pulled out by a car and was taken to a hospital with a subdural hemorrhage in the motor section of the brain, completely paralyzing his left side. After months of sharing lonely thoughts with himself at home, Hooper and his wife Marcy decided to bring their dog, Duke, a pincher Doberman, back from kennel. When the dog was brought back, he was a 23-kilo missile of joy. He hit his master in happiness so hard that Chuck almost lost his balance.Duke was no ordinary dog. He sensed the criticality of Chuck 's situation instantly. Day and night the dog and the master stared at each other giving way to boredom. Finally, Duke couldn't 't take it. He poked his pointed nose under Hooper elbow and lifted. He did not listen to Chuck and poked his master-arm at equal intervals. It happened so that one evening Chuck good hand idly hooked the leash onto Duke collar to hold him still. The whole incident was like a lightening a fuse, Duke pranced and pulled Chuck to his feet. With much effort Chuck took a few steps and then collapsed on his wheel chair.

The Dog then knew what to do. He started early next day. By two weeks they reached the front porch. By April the dog was pulling his master by the least on the side-walk in the neighborhood. Everybody saw the pattern of progress. The next year in January, Hooper made his big move by walking 200 meters without Duke to the local branch office of his company. The staff of the district office was amazed by Hooper visit. He told the manager that he will be making to the office one hour every day. It presented problems back in the company. When a man fights that hard for a comeback, who wants to tell him that he cannot handle his old job? On the other hand, what can you do with a salesman who can’t move around, and can work only an hour a day. However, Chuck already had his next objective set: March 1, a full day work. Hooper hit the target and then he no more took the physiotherapy suggested by his doctor and completely turned to Duke for his workouts. Sometimes after dark, Chuck would trip and fall. Duke would stand still as a post while his master struggled to get up. It was as though the dog knew that his job was to get Chuck back on his feet.

Then on he worked full days for thirteen months and was promoted to regional manager and he, with Marcy and Duke, moved to a new house. The fate then unleashed another mischief. It was October, while a party was going on, Duke was hit by a vehicle. They rushed the dog to the hospital. Duke was drugged and he made it until 11o ' clock the next morning. His injuries were too severe. Now Chuck walked alone to the office. It was only a few weeks ago, worded as a special tribute to Duke, and order came through from Hooper company: “…….therefore, to advance our objectives step by step, Charles Hooper is appointed Assistant National Sales Manager.”

WILLIAM . D. ELLIS

Charles Hooper or chuck was a favored young man who had a million dollar smile in his face which civilized his competitive nature. He was a strong , well built young man bubbling with energy. Athletic and friendly, he had been a footballer during his university days. A happy life appeared to lay ahead of this 6 feet tall man exuding a great zest for life. But these qualities remained only till he had not faced the accident. After the accident, he lost his energy and his movement was impaired.He loved and respected duke a lot which shows that he was a dog lover. That is the reason he wanted to stand up when duke returned from the kennel. He was also a family man who loved his home a lot and was excited to come home after he was discharged from the hospital. He also loved and cared for his wife . That is why after accident he wanted to recover soon so that there is no burden on Marcy.Chuck was an intensively determined man who with duke's help recovered day by day. Duke acted as the biggest supporter to his frozen and steadfast life . He had set a firm decision to work full days and he did a lot of hard work to accomplish the task within stipulated time and then he turned to regional sales manager. Even after duke's death , the spirit in him did not die and as if a tribute to duke, he turned to national sales manager.

CHARACTER SKETCHChuck

Duke was a rough playing Doberman Pinscher. When Chuck met with the accident and was brought back home Duke also was brought back from the kennel. When the dog saw his master “he was a 23-killo missile of joy”. He jumped on Chuck above the belt in excitement. Chuck couldn’t balance, so fought to maintain it. That was it, Duke knew what had happened. From then on he never did the same. He took a post beside his master’s bed and never jumped on him again. He sensed the delicate condition of his master and later he was the main agent in the improvement of Chuck’s condition. From the story, it seems that Duke knew what had happened to Hooper, he would come up and poke Chuck’s left arm and try to lift it up. One evening while the dog was cajoling his master Hooper casually hooked leash in Duke’s collar with his good hand and that charged the dog. The first time, it was just couple of steps till the wheel chair. However, Duke was dogged to make Chuck walk. They were a team now. Hooper’s neighborhood people say that the Dog knew what his responsibility was. They had a tremendous coordination. The dog would “pull his leash taut then stand and wait. The man would drag himself abreast of the dog and then the dog would surge out to the end of the leash and wait again”. Gradually Hooper became totally dependent on Duke and didn’t need physiotherapy further. It was Duke alone who could do what he did. The only thing that the narrator says he was unsure of was whether Duke knew what he was doing, but then the narrator says that he believed that Duke knew.

Duke

Marcy is the wife of Charles Hooper. She usually hates Duke in the beginning because she planned to buy a Pomeranian. But as you see later in the story, when the dog is hit by a car, Marcy is the one who phones the vet and takes Duke to the hospital. But unfortunately, Duke dies. So, from this we can conclude that Marcy changes herself according to the situation.

Marcy

The title is fully justified, because in the story, the dog Duke plays the most important role in helping his master, Chuck Hopper revive from his paralytic condition. Duke was a dog. But, he proved himself to be no less than a nurse in helping Chuck stand on his legs again. He helped him to walk by supporting him like a human being, pulling the leash taut and straight. The way he waited for him to regain balance in case of a stumble, highlighted his human-like intelligence.  Dogs are commonly known as faithful animals, however, the way Duke helped his master regain his normal life, makes him emerge as a trustworthy, dependable and helpful guide and friend to his master.

Significance of title

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