Example Of Marley & Me: Life AND Love With The World’s Worst Dog By John Grogan Research Paper

Introduction

In Marley & Me: Life and Love with the World’s Worst Dog, author John Grogan shares his personal life and love experiences. To make the author’s autobiography more interesting, Grogan made his family’s dog, Marley, the focal point of the story. Grogan’s experiences, struggles, and successes in life were marked by Marley’s presence in his family’s life. Grogan wrote, “[Marley] had touched our souls and taught us some of the most important lessons of our lives” (279). The succeeding discussion is an analysis of the novel based on the main themes and the literary styles incorporated in the novel. Furthermore, the succeeding discussion explores various issues that were raised in the novel, such as those that relate to establishing balance between one’s personal and professional life, animal safety awareness and adoption, postpartum depression, and even grief among others.

Background of the Author

Marley & Me: Life and Love with the World’s Worst Dog was written by American journalist John Grogan. Grogan was born on March 20, 1957 in Detroit, Michigan. Grogan’s father worked as an engineer for car manufacturer General Motors while his mother was a homemaker. Marley & Me is an autobiographical novel following Grogan’s life while living with Marley, his family’s dog. Grogan studied English and Journalism as double majors at the Central Michigan University. For his postgraduate studies, Grogan attended the Ohio State University under the Kiplinger Fellows program. At the university, Grogan earned his Master’s degree in Journalism. Later on, Grogan also attended the Poynter Institute. The author’s educational experiences and achievements in journalism make Grogan an experienced writer.
While working at the Herald-Palladium as a police reporter, Grogan met his wife Jenny. Grogan and his wife are parents to Patrick, Conor, and Colleen. Grogan’s family lives in Pennsylvania. As noted in the novel’s title, Marley & Me is generally about Grogan’s life, particularly his experiences with his family and personal insights punctuated by his life’s learnings being Marley’s owner. In the novel, Grogan wrote, “Marley taught me about living each day with unbridled exuberance and joy, about seizing the moment and following your heart. He taught me to appreciate the simple things” (279). As a journalist, Grogan worked as a columnist for The Philadelphia Inquirer and a reporter for various newspapers in different states. Eventually, Grogan became the editor-in-chief the Organic Gardening magazine owned by Rodale.
Since Marley & Me is an autobiography, Grogan appropriately used the first person voice in the novel. This style allows the author to establish and maintain the point of view throughout the novel. Humor is one of the main qualities of Marley & Me that makes it an engaging read. It would be significant to review the novel based on literary devices used by the author but the most important device that contributes to its readability is humor. Humor not only shaped the mood in the novel but was also crucial in establishing the characterization of the first person voice – Grogan.
Humor makes the character of the novel. Grogan explored some difficult themes and issues in the novel such as postpartum depression, career struggles, marriage problems, and even death. Grogan, however, chose a lighthearted approach in writing the novel. Furthermore, the literary devices used in the novel, particularly imagery and symbolism allowed Grogan to use his experiences with Marley to reflect real life situations. Grogan, for instance, shared Marley’s personality and behaviors as a means to reflect non-conformity in society. Grogan and his family’s adoption of Marley in the novel reflect the need to accept those who refuse to conform to social norms. Although Marley behaved badly, Grogan and his family continued to care for him unlike other pet owners who return their adopted pets after learning about their behaviors and other weaknesses. Most of the narrations about Marley reflected several issues in real life that are relevant and relatable for readers. To successfully accomplish this parallelism in the characters, Grogan used symbolism to establish how Marley’s contributions to Grogan and his family’s life reflect human experiences that also involve other people. Grogan wrote “A dog doesn’t care if you are rich or poor, educated or illiterate, clever or dull It was really quite simple, and yet we humans, so much wiser and more sophisticated, have always had trouble figuring out what really counts and what does not”.

Relevant Historical Events

We could relate the narrative to a historical event in the way that Grogan and his wife named their dog. In the beginning of the novel, Grogan reminisce about his dog during his childhood. After marrying Jenny, they both decide to adopt a dog so they would experience what is to care for a living being before they have children. When Grogan and Jenny adopted Marley, they both decided to name their dog after Bob Marley, the famous reggae artist. Grogan wrote “Always in the background, it seemed, was Bob Marley [he] was the soundtrack for our new life together in this strange, exotic, rough-and-tumble place that was so unlike anywhere we had lived before” (12-13). Grogan and Jenny were arguing what to name their newly adopted dog when Jenny walks over to the cassette player, pressed play, and one of the Bob Marley’s song began playing. Bob Marley is considered as one of the most influential artist not only because he was one of those artists that popularized reggae but also because the meaningful messages in his songs that are both empowering and inspiring. This may only be a small thing but Bob Marley’s influence, as evidenced by the widespread distribution of the artist’s song illustrate the power of his work. Bob Marley’s music is not only relatable but also uplifting and relevant. One of Bob Marley’s songs with the lyrics “Get up, stand up, stand up for your rights” has inspired many people to fight against injustice.

Philosophical Movements and Ideas

One of the objectives of the literary analysis is to link themes with historical events. Since Marley & Me is autobiographical and simply follows the life of author Grogan, the novel does not relate to historical events. Marley & Me, however, explores various social issues – adoption, social norms, and rejection. Throughout the novel, Grogan wrote some anecdotes about Marley. Compared to other Labrador retrievers, Marley is unruly and hyperactive, which makes it challenging to care for the dog. Grogan shared some stories that show how Marley defied ‘norms’. An instructor at an obedience school refused to further train Marley because of the dog’s behavior. Marley also swallowed a valuable necklace, which led Grogan and his family to bring the dog to the veterinarian. Marley underwent an operation to remove the necklace. The experiences of Marley as told from the perspective of Grogan create humor in the novel, which are entertaining and amusing on the part of the readers.
Marley’s story in the novel illustrates the importance of acceptance. Marley & Me appears to be a story that teaches a lesson about social acceptance. As formerly noted and humorously shared by Grogan in the novel, Marley is unlike other dogs. Marley’s unruly behavior makes the dog a challenging animal to care for. Grogan wrote “We wouldn’t realize it until years later, but he showed early signs of that condition that would later be coined to describe the behavior of thousands of hard-to-control, ants-in-their-pants schoolchildren” (27). Grogan and his family, however, learn to accept and care for Marley despite the dog’s flaws. Despite Marley’s behavior, the dog has always been ‘present’ in Grogan and his family’s life and as the author described Marley, the dog is a good playmate for their children. For this reason, I believe that one of the themes of the book pertain to social acceptance. Marley’s story is relevant even to the human experience because the way that Grogan and his family accept Marley sets an example of how human beings must accept other people despite their flaws or shortcomings. Grogan wrote, “Despite everything Marley had given us a gift, at once priceless and free. He taught us the art of unqualified love. How to give it, how to accept it” (287).
Another important issue raised in the novel is postpartum depression. After giving birth, Jenny experiences postpartum depression. At one point, Jenny could not bear Marley’s behavior and she asks Grogan if there was a way for them to let their dog go. Grogan, however, felt that it was not the right thing to do so he struggled to train Marley. Eventually, Grogan was able to tame Marley until Jenny learned to accept the dog again. In this part of the novel, Grogan lightly tackles postpartum depression and its effect not only women but also on the entire family. Furthermore Grogan communicates the importance of supporting women with postpartum depression. It is important that people refrain from judging women for their actions, behavior, and decisions. What women need during this period is support, particularly from their families. In the novel, Grogan showed how he was able to help and support his wife by understanding her needs and that realizing that Jenny’s behavior was a result of her condition. Grogan also helped her by working to reduce sources of stress in their lives by training Marley so as to control the dog’s unruly behavior.
Towards the end of the novel, the readers learn that Marley dies. After Marley’s death, Grogan wrote about the dog in his column. Many peoples sent Grogan and his family words of comfort, some of them empathize with the family because they also experienced taking care of unruly dogs. Talking about Marley, particularly about what the dog taught him about life and love allowed Grogan to deal with his grief of losing friend. Grief is another theme explored in the novel. When Marley died, it was devastating for Grogan and his family because they considered Marley as their friend. Marley was there since the beginning of Grogan and Jenny’s relationship until they had children and went through different experiences together. Based on how Grogan ended the novel, the readers would see that the author chose to deal with grief by writing and sharing his experiences. The way that Grogan dealt with grief show that we may also do so by remembering loved ones and honoring them by sharing what they taught us about life and living. According to Grogan, Marley taught him and his family the value of always being happy despite flaws or shortcomings. Grogan wrote, “Marley had become my male-bonding soul mate, my near-constant companion, my friend” (140). Furthermore, Grogan wrote that Marley taught him “about optimism in the face of adversity”.

Literary Critics’ Interpretations

Another issue that is relevant in the novel is adoption. In an article for the Entertainment Close-Up, an author chose to interpret Grogan’s novel as a means to advocate for the adoption of animals. According to the author, Marley & Me raises awareness about the importance of adopting animals from shelters to help them live and grow in a healthy and safe home. In addition, Marley & Me raises awareness about the challenges linked to adopting animals from shelters. Often, some people choose to return their adopted pets after learning that the latter are not right for their home environment and situation. Other also do so after realizing the extent of their responsibilities in caring for their newly-adopted pets. For this reason, people who work in animal shelters say that Marley & Me could be a good way to reflect the responsibility of pet owners. Marley & Me could help potential pet owners think about the challenges of caring for animals prior to deciding whether to adopt animals from shelters or not. As Grogan wrote, “There’s no such thing as a bad dog, just a bad owner” so because of this, pet owners must learn to care for their pets.
Zimolag (237), on the other hand, chose to interpret Marley & Me by exploring pet ownership as a responsibility. In the research study, Zimolag (237) explored how pet ownership is an everyday occupation. One of Zimolag’s bases in the research was Grogan’s Marley & Me. Zimolag argued that novels such as Marley & Me as well as other texts that illustrate pet owners’ experiences show that caring for pets is similar to an everyday occupation. Furthermore, the researcher explored the complexities of caring for animals.

Conclusion

The foregoing discussion illustrates an analysis of Grogan’s novel Marley & Me. It is an autobiographical novel that narrates the life experiences of Grogan. The author decided to adopt a lighthearted approach in the paper. Hence, Marley & Me blends humor and inspiration to tackle relevant and relatable life and love experiences. As formerly noted, humor is one of the main literacy devices employed by Grogan in the book to discuss various experiences and issues despite the seriousness of some of them. At one point in the novel, Grogan recounted how his wife, Jenny, had postpartum depression, which affected her behavior and point of view. Aside from humor, the first-person point of view is also relevant in drawing the author’s unique voice, which was important in putting together the autobiography. For this reason, Marley & Me is readable and authentic sounding because the narratives were directly from the perspectives of the author.
As previously discussed, Marley & Me tackles many historical and philosophical issues. For one, the novel reminds the readers not only about the influence of Bob Marley as an artist but also of animal adoption from shelters as an important matter that must raised to increase awareness. Other philosophical issues include social acceptance and compliance to social norms, death and grieving, and postpartum depression. Literary interpretations of the novel also show that Marley & Me actively addresses adoption and the responsibility of pet owners. Overall, Marley & Me is a heart-warming and lighthearted novel that teaches and inspires its readers because of Marley’s spirited and lively character.

Works Cited

Grogan, John. Marley & Me: Life and Love with the World’s Worst Dog. HarperCollins, 2005.
“Marley & Me” Raises Adoption Issue Awareness. Entertainment Close-Up. \Jacksonville, Close-Up Media Inc., 2009.
Patton, Priscilla. Theory: Gone to the Dogs. JAC, 30:3/4 (2010), 557-582.
Sanders, Clinton R. Living and dying with an ordinary remarkable dog. Society & Animals, 2011.
Zimolag, Ulrike Uli. An evolutionary concept analysis of caring for a pet as an everyday occupation. Journal of Occupational Science, 18:3 (2011), 237-253.