Theme and message

The main theme of the short story “Ray the Rottweiler” by Alice Jolly is social exclusion (or marginalisation). The subject of the short story, Ray, is a man who is rejected by the community he lives in. His rejection is paralleled by the rejection of the narrator’s son by other children. Through this story, the author questions the treatment of people on the margins of society by showing that sympathy is still possible, even for those whom the majority rejects.

Social exclusion

The story explores social exclusion (understood as marginalization or rejection at a social level) through the stories of Ray and Josh. This theme is enhanced through the motif of sympathy and compassion displayed by the character-narrator, Tess.

The main subject of the narration is Ray, a man nicknamed ‘the Rottweiler’ because of what others see as an exaggerated concern for Rottweiler dogs. Because people in Ray’s community cannot understand him, stories about Ray begin to appear which further contribute to his social exclusion. People believe and create all kind of stories about him: that he worked in a cider factory or a morgue, that his parents are famous, that his wife was killed and eaten by his dogs, and so on.

These rumours are never confirmed, but because Ray seems odd to the local community they are used as a pretext for rejection: “No one sees him,...