There is a strong theme of death and dying, and both Eve and Enzo die before the end of the book. He symbolizes what can go wrong in life, and possibly helps with foreshadowing. One of the symbols is the toy zebra who runs amok in a surrealistic scene. Public domain photo via Themes and SymbolismĪs a work of literary fiction, The Art of Racing in the Rain has deeper themes and symbolism than a genre fiction title might have. It might have been informative if the author had described what Seattle smells and sounds like from a dog’s perspective. The story is set in Seattle, but we don’t get a strong feeling of setting because of the limitations of a dog narrator. It also leads Enzo to be a bit unreliable because he can only guess what is going on from his narrow observations and memories.
The author must keep track of all these differences to realistically limit his character. The dog has physical limitations, like having no thumbs and having limited color vision.Enzo can only report dialogue he overhears. The dialogue is tricky because the dog doesn’t speak.Enzo can’t go to the trial with Denny, for example. Because he isn’t the narrator, the reader gets the TV-viewing dog’s analysis of events instead. For example, if Denny was the narrator the reader might expect to sit in the car as he races around the track. On the plus side, the author doesn’t have to delve as deeply into his human characters. Having a dog for a narrator has advantages and disadvantages. The narrator is Enzo, a lab-terrier mix, who lives with race car driver Denny Swift, Denny’s wife Eve, and daughter Zoë. The story is told in the first person from a dog’s point of view. The very last section flashes forward into the future, which is a bit of a stretch because he is no longer available to tell the story. In this case most of the story is an extended flashback as the narrator remembers his life. Literary fiction rarely unfolds in strict chronological order. (*Amazon Affiliate link) Plot of The Art of Racing in the Rain The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein Let’s take a look at The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein from a writer’s perspective.
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