A Dog in the Manger

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A Dog in the Manger Characterise the main character and his family relations The main character is a young boy. He used to live with his farther and mother. But he has moved away from the “family”. Through his years of growth he was beaten black and blue by his farther, and the only way he was taught right from wrong was through a clenched fist. He grew up with betrayal from his family, no love, missing support, a drunken father. He never knew what it felt like to be loved or to have a normal family, with no violence or for that matter, he never really felt like he had a family. All those things, he experienced in his growing up, has led him to a life, on the bottom of the society, where he is poor and lives on the side of the road with a cardboard wishing people would notice him and help him, with cars racing by, drinking and abuse, and being beaten up while he’s sleeping. The father of the main character is a violent, alcoholic man, and the head of the family. He doesn’t have any clue how to raise a child in a non-violent way. He thinks the only way to make a kid understand anything is through caressing with his clenched fist. He doesn’t care about his wife. The mother of the main character doesn’t have that much to say, compared to the father. In the text the main characters memory of her is a situation, and probably a quite normal situation for her, where she is crying. Explain the title and who the dog in the manger is The title “A dog in the manger” means that someone keeps something for himself or herself, even though the person can’t use it, so that other can’t use it either. The father is the dog in the manger, because he has a miserable life and he has given up to improve it, but even worse, he also makes the life of son miserable by beating him and thereby prevent him from going to school and making friends. Discuss the theme(s) The themes

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