Salamano: he is an old man who lived with his old, diseased-infested dog in Meursault’s apartment complex. He lives with his dog who replaced his late wife and the two of them are inseparable for eight years. The two of them alone in one tiny room, they’ve ended up looking like each other. They look as if they belong to the same species, and yet they hate each other. They go out for a walk twice a day, same route for eight years.
-Mean-although the poor dog keeps him company throughout the years, he still beats the dog and swears at it. Also when the dog has an accident in the room, he beats him. He swears at the dog, his famous line:” Filthy, stinking bastard!”
-Impatient-whenever he is out for a walk and the dog wants to urinate, the old man won’t give him enough time and yanks at him so the poor dog ends up leaving trails of little drops.
Salamano doesn’t like to show his feelings especially for the dog. It’s only when he loses the dog, that’s when he misses him. He tells this to Meursault and Raymond at the same time trying not to show that he is suffering from the agony of his recently missing dog(pg 38-39,paragraph two) Its only when he’s alone with Meursault that he shows his concern.
-Salamano had an admiration for the dog but didn’t want to show it. This is seen in chapter 5 pg 45.
Salamano losing his dog contrasts with Meursault losing his mother but the only difference is that Salamano weeps (pg 38)
-Salamano is the only one who understands Meursault’s treatment of his mother’s death and testifies for him at the trial (pg 94-95, last paragraph)
Salamano’s dog- he is Salamano’s “roommate” or in other words his companion. He replaces Salamano’s dead wife. He is described as a “skin diseased-mange” because its hairs fall out and leaves it covered with brown sores and scabs. He has a stooped look, always muzzled down and neck strained like his master. The author mentions that they have lived together for so long that they look as if they belonged to the same species.
-We can say the dog is obedient towards his master despite his yanking and cursing because when he does something wrongs he gets beaten. Eg; when the dog pulls along Salamano until he stumbles when they were taking walks then the old man pulls the dog.
-The dog is always insecure with his master, though it is an animal who can’t express its feelings through word of mouth. I’m sure he’s always on the look in order to avoid a sudden beating when he forgets himself.
In the end the dog runs away from him. In my opinion I think the dog felt that at that moment he had the chance to escape, he didn’t want to remain tied down to old Salamano, he knew he was old and he wanted to experience life on his own, away from curses, constant beatings and yanking, he wanted a breath of fresh air. Dogs are very clever animals that do not get lost easily especially when they are used to the neighborhood for eight years! Same old routes. The dog didn’t want to go back, he was tired of the same life repeating itself and since the old man mistreated him and didn’t show any love, he felt Salamano could go on without him.
Salamano says that his dog took the place of his wife. This suggests that the animals can operate on an equal level with human beings. Meursault himself notes the old man looks like the dog because they are a both “old and dying”. Salamano and his pet are equal in their mortality.
