Narrative Mechanics: Strays

  At its heart "Strays" by Mark Richard is a story about stability vs chaos. The story handles themes of abuse and neglect and is a tragedy in that the downfall is caused by the fatal flaw of the main characters. In the case of "Strays" the fatal flaw is that the boys are young children and therefor powerless to affect the world around them.
  The two boys desperately try to grasp onto something consistent in their lives but because they are so young they are at the mercy/indifference of the adults around them.

  The story features a binary between Uncle Trash and the stray dogs. What makes them two sides of the same coin?

  What are the elements that provide the boys with stability?

  How does the very broad strokes first person style affect the tragedy of this narrative?

  The adults spend the story destroying the elements of stability in the boys' life. What does the work accomplish by having the boys destroy that last vestige of stability?

Thoughtful Cat is very thoughtful.