A Boy and His Dog at the End of the World
By: C.A. Fletcher
Published: April 23, 2019
Genre: Science Fiction, Coming of Age, Post-Apocalypse, Dystopian
“I wasn’t going home Not then, not yet, or not to my home anyway. I was going to go to his home. I was going to get my dog. I was going to take his boat. And then, when and only if I did that, I would go home,”(Chapter 13, “The tower”).
The world has ended. However, this post-apocalyptic story does not occur as the world is ending, or immediately after the world ends. Instead, the story follows the descendants of those survivors; these people are living in what remains of the world 100 years later. And yes, the novel is about a boy who goes on a journey to recover his stolen dog. Before you judge the plot of this book, recall the plot of the movie, John Wick.
Griz is the protagonist and we follow the events of his adventure afterthey happen. Griz lives with his family—parents and brother and sisters—on an island. There are other people who live in this big world, including their neighbors with whom both families make supply runs together. As mentioned in the summary, a thief—named Brand—“stops by the island” and takes one of the family’s dogs. Griz, who believes in family and doing the right thing, takes off after Brand in order to get the dog back. Throughout Griz’s journey, he explores what remains of our world: buildings, wildlife, landscape, etc. Griz learns more about the world because he must survive alone with his knowledge and his instincts to guide him. The few people Griz meets throughout his journey presents both the struggle and the complications surrounding each individual, including Griz.
The plot is straightforward. Griz leaves home to chase a thief who stole from his family and took his dog. I would not call this a “hero’s journey” plot; but, instead an adolescent leaves home, learns about the world, and returns a changed person. The plot is coming-of-age; and, the subplot is survival, the man versus nature conflict. It is mentioned throughout the novel that so much time has passed and there are so few people left—according to Griz, approximately 7,000—that a lot of the previous knowledge has been lost and abandoned. Computers and vehicles are no longer operating, medical services have been reduced to herbs and remedies—an injury or an illness can lead to one’s death—and, maps are as useless to someone who doesn’t know where they are compared to someone who is able to travel to those places. The apocalypse not only reduced the human population, but also reduced all helpful knowledge for humanity to thrive. These factors let readers know that Griz’s journey is more complicated than we first believe it to be.
The narrative is told from Griz’s point-of-view after the events occurred. Griz is recounting the events of his life and his journey in a blank journal he found during one of his family’s scavenging trips. With limited ways to keep oneself occupied, writing in a journal is a good idea. This narrative could be said to be reliable because the times in which, Griz does catch up with the thief, he doesn’t allow his judgment to cloud over with what the thief tells him about himself and the world. The fact that Griz includes what the thief has to say makes this story more believable because the need to survive is highlighted in this narrative. In addition, Griz mentions parts of the story he decided to omit because it was “irrelevant” to his story. Not only does this make the narrative easier to follow, but also gives the narrative a bit of realism in that not every detail has to be included within a given story.
The style the author, C.A. Fletcher, uses makes for a believable “what is” scenario without the mention of zombies. What happens to the world and its survivors years after the world ends? In this case, the world continues as it was, but with limited interference from the actions of humanity. What’s left of any buildings are either safe, or decrepit; all animals roam without fearing humans because there are so few left; and, plants and vegetation thrive where they are with only the elements to concern them. Fletcher’s mood for his story is that the world goes on with or without humans. However, the tone reiterates the darker side of humanity. Yes, Griz and his family were gullible enough to allow a thief into their home, but the thief tells Griz more than once that he is not a “bad guy.” And, the thief is right, to an extent. With so few people and limited resources, there are some people who would resort to darker methods for survival. There are no laws to restrict anyone, anyone could get away with doing just about anything—theft, kidnapping, murder, etc.—and, not worry about consequences or law enforcement. Fletcher gives readers a two-sided notion of a post-apocalyptic world with this style of writing.
Anyone who is a fan of post-apocalyptic stories will enjoy Fletcher’s novel. As I mentioned before, there are no zombies or first wave attacks in this story; and, this does not happen immediately after the events at the end of the world. And, that’s the appeal of A Boy and His Dog at the End of the World, the aftermath of the apocalypse! Given the approximate age of Griz (16?), adolescent readers will find this novel appealing as well. I can see this novel becoming an assigned book in schools.
A Boy and His Dog at the End of the Worldis an entertaining dystopian bildungsroman novel that puts a lot of emphasis on the atmosphere of the Earth over the characters. Readers learn from Griz’s experiences that both knowledge of survival and knowledge of people go hand-in-hand. My only issue with this novel is that while Griz learned and accomplished much on his journey, he doesn’t seem changed by it that much. It could be because Griz is telling the story in his journal. The “story doesn’t end with the journey” notion that left me wondering whether or not Griz and his family has more to tell us about their world. Other than that this novel was fun to read.
My rating: Enjoy It (4 out of 5).
