For this post I think I'm am going to simply do a character comparison between the two great literary works. (Oh, first of all you should know that the story takes place on a dog farm in Wisconsin in the 1950s. That's right "Hamlet's" family raises and trains a fictional breed of dogs.)
Hamlet = Edgar ~ Edgar is a mute! He communicates solely by sign and written word. This is partly why he withdraws so much into himself after his father's death.
The King/Hamlet Senior = Gar ~ He is actually alive for the first 100 pages of the book. You learn to love his character and see why Edgar is so distraught.
Gertrude = Trudy ~ In this retelling you see Trudy and Gar's relationship develop as well as her distress over his death. Parts of the story are actually told from her view. She actually never marries "Claudius" but he does propose and they have a relationship.
Claudius = Claude ~ Gar's brother. They have a rocky past but neither of them seem to understand quite where the conflict began. He comes to live with them and then leaves on rocky terms. He has a natural talent with dogs and helps around the kennel after Gar's death (which he caused through an injection of poison).
Ophelia = Almondine ~ She is actually a dog! She and Edgar have been best friends since his birth but when he sees her fawning on Claude he goes into a rage and refuses to acknowledge her. Edgar feels as if she has betrayed him, and while he is away she dies of old age.
Polonius = Dr. Papineau ~ The vet who works on the Sawtelle dogs and a close family friend. He actually has a share of their kennel as well and hires Claude to work for him.
Laeretes = Glen Papineau - The county sheriff who is devastated by his father's accidental death. When Claude tells him that Edgar played a role he is determined to shake Edgar up and conspires with Claude to achieve this. He doesn't end up dying but is blinded by quicklime.
Whoa, a mute Hamlet? Is that even possible? To me that's what Hamlet is: words. That'd be extremely interesting to see how that one compares, especially with parts like his huge speeches, do they have the equivalent in this book?
ReplyDeleteno that's what interesting. There are never any big speeches by him but you mainly "feel" his turmoil through the insights into his mind.
ReplyDeleteWhat's cool is that he confronts Claude about he murder but Claude doesn't understand sign, and Edgar knows that. So he's still hiding in cowardice.