Fifteen Dogs

Fifteen Dogs (2015) is an allegorical novel by André Alexis. The book is an apologue with a fable-like narrative focused on animals and morality, and it also contains elements of magical realism. It is the second of five planned novels exploring love, faith, place, power, and hatred. Fifteen Dogs was the 2017 Canada Reads selection.

Plot Summary

In a Toronto pub, Greek gods Apollo and Hermes debate the merits of humans and their capacity for symbolic language. Apollo, who values neither, bets Hermes that animals given human intelligence will be unhappier than humans. Hermes accepts, on the condition that if even one dog is happy at the end of his or her life, Hermes wins. They grant 15 dogs residing at a nearby veterinary clinic human intelligence.

The first chapter explores the dogs’ diverse reactions to gaining human intelligence. Three dogs choose to stay behind, and they die disillusioned and unhappy. The remaining 12 dogs establish a den in High Park, and Atticus, a mastiff, assumes leadership. Atticus finds self-consciousness intolerable because it causes him to question the brutality of his instincts. Majnoun, a black poodle, longs for the past but believes the dogs must learn to accept their new reality. Benjy accepts intelligence as an opportunity to improve his situation. Only Prince, a mutt, delights in his new skills and begins composing poetry.

Atticus soon decides the pack must return to their former dog behaviors and plots to purge the pack of all dissenting dogs. He arranges the deaths of Athena and Bella, a small and large dog respectively, who shared a close bond. With this act, Hermes declares himself the winner since the dogs’ friendship improved their lives, but Apollo disagrees since both dogs were frightened when they died. To resolve their conflict, Apollo allows Hermes to warn Prince of Atticus’s plans. Prince runs away after a warning in a dream. Meanwhile, Atticus leads an attack on Majnoun, but Majnoun survives.

In Chapter Two, Majnoun develops a deep friendship with a woman, Nira. While walking in the park, they run into Benjy and bring him home. He reveals that the rest of the pack have all died of poisoning. Benjy withholds that he orchestrated the poisoning. Fearful of Atticus, Benjy had fled the pack with Dougie, another small dog, but they returned after falling on hard times. The pack attacked and killed Dougie but allowed Benjy to stay. The pack needed a small dog to fulfill the hierarchy, but Benjy hated them for murdering his friend and resented their abuse of power. While Benjy finds human intelligence to be a useful tool, he happily performs tricks to impress humans. Benjy eventually becomes overly confident and attempts to supplant Majnoun, who attacks with the intent to kill, and Benjy flees.

Chapter Three returns to Atticus, who experiences self-consciousness as a painful inner turmoil between violence and empathy. Atticus eventually realizes that murdering dogs was an excess that tainted his leadership. Seeking guidance, he begins praying to an ideal dog, creating a shrine and leaving food offerings. Zeus hears his prayers and, after Benjy poisons him with the others, Zeus grants his last wish: that the pack’s murderer be punished. Zeus contrives for Benjy to die as Atticus and the pack did, by poisoning. In his final moments, Benjy hopes for a place where the strong and weak exist in a mutually beneficial relationship. Since hope is not a condition of happiness, Apollo and Hermes’s bet remains unresolved.

In Chapter Four, Majnoun and Nira briefly fall out over what Majnoun perceives to be a challenge to his place in Nira’s home, and he runs away. Realizing that Majnoun will never be happy without Nira, Hermes intervenes, gifting him the ability to perceive human nuance. The gift has the opposite effect, however. It creates a bond so deep that Majnoun and Nira become indistinguishable. After Nira dies, Majnoun is bereft and dies longing only to see her.

Chapter Five tells Prince’s story. He had loved his first human master, Kim, but they were accidentally separated. Prince adapts and immediately embraces human language, finding joy in word play. After leaving the pack, Prince mostly keeps to himself. Concerned that he will lose the bet, Apollo robs Prince of his sight, but Prince humbly returns to a kind family who takes care of him. Hoping to save his poetry from dying with him, Prince begins reciting it to the woman of the house, until Apollo robs him of his hearing. In his dying moments, Prince reflects on the gift given him and realizes that it can be given to another. As he dies, Prince feels happy, and Hermes wins the bet. Hermes grants Prince a final moment of joy, in which he feels and receives love with Kim.