No More Dead Dogs

“Dear Julia Roberts, You are My favorite actress. Were you involved in drama when you were in seventh grade? If yes, was it tough to be a serious actress in middle School? It Sure is for me. Sometimes I think I’m the only one working while everyone else is goofing off or flirting. Am I being unreasonable here? Have you ever flirted with a guy while making one of your movies? Don’t feel bad if the answer is yes. you can do whatever you want because you’re so famous. but student actors should have to concentrate harder, right?”

This first letter to Julia Roberts introduces Rachel’s character—the serious type who wants to be an actress and doesn’t necessarily believe in having fun while working. She assumes that once a person is suitably famous, they can do whatever they want and that no one will question them. These letters show Rachel’s growth throughout the story.

“There was no feeling quite like the first day of rehearsal. To take simple words on paper and bring them to life was a fantastic challenge. It was like the birth of a new baby (I’m only guessing here). Of course, you can’t have a performance on the first day. You have a staged reading. We all gathered in a circle with our scripts and went through the entire play with each actor saying his (or her) lines. Okay, some of the cast was fooling around a little. There was a lot of laughing when Leticia Ogden choked on her gum, and when Vito Brundia read ‘What can this dog do?’ as ‘What is this, dog-doo?’ Even Mr. Fogelman had a pretty good laugh at Vito’s expense. That’s part of the fun of drama.”

Here, Rachel describes the first day of rehearsal. The audience of a play sees the put-together version that’s the result of weeks or even months of rehearsal. The audience doesn’t see the work and mistakes (some amusing) that go into getting a performance ready. The reading Rachel describes here shows the very beginning of the process—just reading the script with no costumes, set, lighting, or anything else present in the performance.

“Just write a serious paper on exactly why you think Old Shep, My Pal isn’t any good. No wisecracks, no sarcasm, just a simple, solid essay. It’s the man’s favorite book, Wally. If you insult it, you’re making fun of him.”

This passage comes while Wallace takes a break from painting the garage in Chapter 3. Here, his mother makes a suggestion for Wallace’s paper on Old Shep, My Pal, and her idea represents the differences between Wallace and his mom. While Wallace is equipped to dig in his heels and say nothing good about the book, his mom thinks Wallace’s opinion matters so long as he expresses it in a constructive way.

“The Standard has learned from a reliable source that Wallace, the hero of last year’s Giants, has refused to play for this year’s team until Mr. Fogelman brings his English grade up from an incomplete. Wallace himself refused to respond to the allegations. When pressed, he became violent and attacked this reporter with a heavy book bag, causing a severe sprain of the right index finger, and numerous scrapes and abrasions to an expensive tape recorder.”

These lines come from one of the many school newspaper articles included in No More Dead Dogs. In truth, Wallace never demanded a passing grade nor “attacked” the reporter. The reliable source is Cavanaugh, who dislikes Wallace and is not really reliable. In favor of writing an interesting and inflammatory article, however, the reporter twists the information to suit their purposes, much like some real newspapers do.

“You know, I honestly would have forgiven him if he’d just come out and admitted that he did it because he was angry about his detention. Everybody understands what it’s like to feel frustrated. But how can you sympathize with a guy who just stands there, right after he’s practically been proven guilty, and won’t own up? He obviously didn’t take responsibility for the things he did. Look how he had misled poor Parker Schmidt. There wasn’t one word about detention in that newspaper article. Wallace had managed to convince Parker that he was such a football star that he didn’t have to earn his grades like everybody else. That’s the whole problem with athletes. They get treated like gods, and it goes to their heads.”

This passage from Rachel’s thoughts comes after the initial article runs in the school newspaper and the first attack on the show. Rachel believes Wallace defaced the set backdrop because she wants to blame him, despite having no real proof, and the newspaper article only confirms her bias. These lines also call to the strained relationship between the performing arts and athletics. In many schools, athletes are given a pass where other students are not, which leads to non-athletes resenting sports because of the status they offer. Rachel also doesn’t yet know that Wallace doesn’t lie, which contributes to her anger.

“Old Shep, My Pal is the best book ever!! I love it so much because it is amazing, awesome, excellent, and stupendous, and also really, really great!!! There could never be a better book to get forced to read for homework!! It is the crop of the litter!!!”

In an effort to get Wallace released from detention and back on the football team, Rick and Feather write reports on the book for Wallace to hand in. This is one of those reports, which shows a few things. First, it plays on the stereotype of athletes being poor students. The multiple exclamation points and lack of any real depth to the report suggests the paper was written by either someone who’s unfamiliar with the book or someone with poor writing skills. It also shows the simplicity of middle school thinking. It is unlikely Mr. Fogelman would accept this report either because of its lack of detail, but Wallace’s teammate thinks it will work because it’s overwhelmingly positive. Korman humorously includes a malaphor—an error where two figures of speech merge—with Wallace’s friends merging “pick of the litter” and “cream of the crop.”

“Trudi seemed to think there was this ultra-hip ‘scene’ out there, where rock stars, the rich and famous, and the beautiful people (but not Trudi Davis) hung out together. Oh, I’m sure it existed somewhere, but definitely not at the Bedford 7-Eleven. And I doubt you could join it by dating a middle-school football player, even the celebrated Wallace Wallace.”

This passage of Rachel’s thoughts shows the differences between her and Trudi. While Rachel is the no-nonsense, hard-working type, Trudi is more interested in flirting and parties. Rachel doesn’t discount Trudi’s beliefs, showing that Rachel is open to ideas different from her own, but she brings real-world logic to Trudi’s general view—acknowledging that they are in middle school in a small town, and not somewhere where the beautiful elite spend their time.

“MEMO: You don’t have to explain yourself. You’re the director. Rehearsals were a nightmare. The actors were depressed and demoralized, and the scenery painters didn’t care anymore. When Kelly showed me the Lamont house, it was nothing but a big, blank backdrop, with two square windows, and a rectangular door drawn in Magic Marker. I stared at her. ‘That’s it?’ ‘Yep.’ I could almost feel the arctic blast. ‘But what about the bricks?’ I persisted. ‘And the curtains! The shutters! The flowerpots! The trees and the ivy! What happened to the chimney? Your sketches were beautiful! This is—nothing!’ ‘We all talked it over,’ she explained, ‘and since you won’t let Wallace turn our play into something special, what’s the point of having good scenery?’ ‘But Wallace isn’t even in our play!’ I argued. ‘None of this makes any difference to him!’”

These lines come from one of Mr. Fogelman’s point-of-view chapters and show a few things. First, the “memo” (short for memorandum) line beginning this section indicates that Mr. Fogelman leaves notes for himself about important things. Each memo leads into a section where that memo’s point is questioned or challenged in some way. Here, Wallace has already started making suggestions to the play, and Mr. Fogelman is bound and determined to salvage his place as director by just telling the students what to do, no questions allowed. The poor set design shows how he’s already lost control and suggests that no explanation will get the kids back on his side because they prefer Wallace’s suggestions and explanations.

“I thought of the famous Chinese water torture. A prisoner is tied up and blindfolded, and every hour or so, his interrogators allow a single droplet of water to fall on the top of his head. There is no pain, but the victim actually drives himself crazy waiting for the next drip. Well, there was a drip out there with my name on it.”

These thoughts from Mr. Fogelman show him slowly but surely losing control of the play. He references Chinese Water Torture, a practice first referenced by Hippolytus De Marsiliis in the 15th century. Though there is little evidence to suggest water torture is an effective form of torture, the reference is understood, which shows how exaggeration becomes truth when enough people agree something is real.

“Amazing! Old Shep, My Pal, which had started out as the floor show for my detentions, was creeping into every part of my life. In a weird way, I was even starting to feel I had a stake in it.”

Here, Wallace has just talked to a few students from the play over the weekend. They asked questions and sought his input, which makes Wallace realize just how much he’s involved with the play. His reaction shows how we can easily get swept up into things, even if we have no intention of doing so. It also suggests that we start to take responsibility for things that we really don’t have any official control over.

“I snapped to attention in the shocked silence. Over? Go back? I guess I’d been on detention for so long I’d forgotten why I was there. Unbelievable! I was getting everything I wanted! And how did I feel? Angry! That lousy Fogelman wasn’t letting me off the hook. He was letting himself off! He had figured out that the only way to regain control of his crummy play was to get rid of me. Now he could ax the music, water down my changes, and turn Old Shep, My Pal into the boring waste of time it was always destined to be.”

Mr. Fogelman has just released Wallace from detention, counting Wallace’s work on the play as a positive review of the book. Rather than relieved, Wallace feels anger, which confirms his earlier thoughts that the play was starting to matter to him. Wallace’s thoughts here show his character growth. It also makes clear the lengths Mr. Fogelman is still willing to go to in order to maintain control. Dismissing Wallace will end his influence on the play, and Mr. Fogelman is still too attached to his vision of Old Shep, My Pal to acknowledge anyone else’s perspective.

“‘That’s just it! I don’t have one. And I need one. That’s where Cosmo comes in. They’ve got an article called ‘Get Your Man to Notice You.’ I’d buy it myself, but I’m broke. I’ve decided to go auburn, and Rascal Red is the most expensive hair color on the market.’ Rascal Red! What a scam that turned out to be! When I got out of the shower and showed Rachel, she said, ‘You look like somebody dumped a pot of chili on your head.’ I looked in the mirror. She was right! This was getting totally serious. It would take weeks for the stuff to wash out! By then, Wallace Wallace could have another girlfriend.”

These lines from Trudi’s point-of-view show her teenage mindset and how she holds her appearance in high regard. She wants to dye her hair red to impress Wallace, both because she thinks red hair will make her more desirable/attractive and because she thinks being Wallace’s girlfriend will elevate her status.

“[R]ehearsals are locked up tight; loud music is blasting from the gym—we’re the hottest ticket at school!’

I snorted. ‘You’re loving this, aren’t you?’

She threw her arms wide. ‘What’s not to love? Before all this, we were a couple of nothing seventh graders. Now we’re in on the biggest thing since Wallace’s touchdown. Eighth graders talk to us! Do you realize that if Wallace had a party tonight, we’d probably be invited?’

I made a face. ‘If Wallace invited me to his house to pick up my ten-million-dollar check from Publishers Clearing House, I wouldn’t go.’

Trudi looked impatient. ‘You’re the one who always complains that nobody cares about the drama club. Well, now everybody cares. And our play is shaping up into a monster hit! Life is good, Rachel! Enjoy it!’”

This conversation between Rachel and Trudi comes after Wallace renounces the football team to work on the play. Rachel doesn’t admit it, but she’s frustrated because Wallace and Trudi are getting more recognition than she is, even though she’s the one who wants to be a professional actor. Trudi’s observation about the drama club’s elevated status recalls the hierarchy within extracurricular activities. Typically, sports is at the top of the chain while theater is toward the bottom. Now, though, the play is big news, and the football team is cast aside. Trudi revels in the attention, but Rachel struggles to enjoy the change because she feels it was only brought about because of an athlete’s (Wallace’s) involvement with the show.

“I was a Giant again, in my usual spot on the bench. The halftime show was going on in the middle of the game. It was ‘Old Shep, My Pal,’ starring Nathaniel Spitzner on Rollerblades, with musical guests Mr. Fogelman and the Dead Mangoes. Rick took the snap, and whipped the ball over to Laszlo, who took off on his moped, mud kicking up behind the spinning wheels. But Everton Wu was a wizard with his remote control, and the stuffed dog made a beautiful tackle.

I was about to jump on the fumble when marbles and pepper and pancake syrup started raining down on the field. It was another attack on the play! My loyal wife Trudi had the culprit in a headlock. He wore a Giants’ uniform with a question mark where the number should be. His face was hidden by a cheerleader’s megaphone.”

This passage is a dream Wallace has after he leaves the football team to work on the play. It shows the two biggest parts of his life getting mixed in his subconscious. The show gets integrated into a football game, both as the halftime show and as part of the game. The fact that the attacker is wearing a football uniform shows that Wallace thinks it is someone from the team, which is another red herring.

“I have to admit that it felt good to be appreciated. The appreciation level from my former teammates on the Giants had dropped to zero. I glanced around the yard at my rakers and baggers. I definitely wasn’t friendless. I’d just made the switch to a different type of friend. While the Giants had all been pretty much the same type of personality, the drama club provided an unbelievable variety. Just in my backyard, I had a piece of work like the Void raking shoulder to shoulder with happy-go-lucky fifth grader Everton Wu. Or a hot dog like Rory working alongside a serious, straitlaced girl like Rachel.”

Here, Wallace watches the drama club help rake his yard and notices the differences between them and the football team. Wallace says the football players all had one type of personality, which perpetuates the stereotype that all athletes are similar. While that isn’t necessarily true, the comparison shows here that Wallace doesn’t know his teammates as well as he thinks he does. By contrast, he has gotten to know the theater kids very well because he can see all their differences clearly. It also harkens to the idea that the performing arts are where all the “misfits” go, which results in a wide range of personality types.

“These guys have more character in their little fingers than all you Giants will ever have in your whole bodies! They know what it is to work hard on something that nobody cheers for or thinks it’s cool to be part of. There are no trophies for what they do, but they do it anyway, and they give it all they’ve got! If the football team put in one-sixteenth the effort the drama club is putting into Old Shep, My Pal, then maybe you wouldn’t be in last place!”

Here, Wallace has just discovered that Cavanaugh crashed the yard-raking party. After Cavanaugh smirks and makes fun of Wallace, Wallace snaps and calls Cavanaugh and the football team out on their lousy performance. The team is too busy blaming Wallace to realize they are just as much to blame for their poor season. This is also the moment where Wallace fully sides with the drama club. He acknowledges they work just as hard and even harder than the football team with nowhere near as much of a return in terms of recognition. Wallace doesn’t know it yet, but Rachel hears the entire thing, which results in her finally taking his side.

“‘Football players have it easy by comparison’ was Wallace’s comment. ‘To be a drama nerd, you have to be a wizard, too!’

‘Also a carpenter,’ I put in. ‘And a plumber, an exterminator, and an electrician.’” 

This conversation between Mr. Fogelman and Wallace shows Wallace gaining an appreciation for how much work the drama kids do and how many skills they need to cultivate. As a football player, Wallace just had to play football. Maintenance of the field and locker room, as well as any other behind-the-scenes work, was taken care of by other people and the school’s budget. Theater kids are often not given such support and have to build their own sets, find their own costumes, and bring in their own audience. These lines show yet another disparity between extracurricular activities.

“Mr. Fogelman stepped forward, and half a pound of shredded paper spilled off the stage. Our director was even paler than Wallace.

‘I don’t want to believe this,’ he said sorrowfully, ‘but the evidence is right in front of me. Wallace, we can’t thank you enough for what you’ve done for our play. But this is the strangest situation I’ve ever run into. The kind of person who could build with one hand while tearing down with the other needs to take a long hard look at himself.’”

Here, the cast of the play has just found Wallace’s football jersey amidst their shredded scripts. Though Wallace has been nothing but helpful and the evidence seems too convenient, they all believe Wallace destroyed the scripts. Mr. Fogelman’s sorrow shows that he’s come to Wallace’s side in terms of the vision for the play. His final line is a message about how people need to examine their intentions and see how much of their help might be motivated by a desire to deceive.

“Wallace ate his lunch in total isolation in spite of the fact that the cafeteria was packed. I almost dropped my tray when I saw him, a single dot in the center of the room, no one within twenty feet of him. He was being ignored by football players and drama club members alike, not to mention everybody who got their news from the Bedford Middle School Weekly Standard. Wallace Wallace, hero and superstar, was now a leper.”

Rachel enters the cafeteria to find Wallace eating alone, and her thoughts here reflect on how anyone’s image can change. Not long ago, Wallace was a star beloved by almost the entire school. Now, he sits alone because of what people thought he did, as well as due to the newspaper’s twisted stories. Truth is a matter of perspective. Though the reasons people ignore Wallace aren’t true, it doesn’t matter so long as people want to believe them.

“‘I think I know what Wallace meant,’ Vito said, nodding. ‘Somewhere around third grade, every kid in every school has to read a book where the dog dies. Don’t you remember the first time you went home crying on the bus over Old Yeller or Irish Red?’

‘It was Bristle Face,’ said Joey tragically. ‘He never lived to see the words The End. I felt like mine shaft, underwater cave, center of the earth, low.’

‘Wallace is right,’ Everton said positively. ‘We have the chance to save one dog. Let’s take it.’”

These lines come a few hours before the play’s opening performance and show that the kids, deep down, don’t believe Wallace tried to sabotage the show. If they did, they wouldn’t consider his final suggestion to let Old Shep live. The opinions about books where dogs die indicate that kids are tired of reading books with tragic endings for animals. Their decision to change the end of the play is their act of defiance against all books where dogs are killed off to make a literary point.

“What a feeling! Every time one of the Lamonts spoke a piece of my dialogue, it was like scoring that touchdown all over again. When I heard the audience cheering, the excitement took hold of me in my gut. I used to roll my eyes when Rachel talked about the exhilaration of opening night, but now I understood 100 percent!”

Here, Wallace watches the performance hidden in the football coach’s office. As he listens to his lines and sees his suggestions come to life, he finally understands why the drama kids love what they do so much. He likens the joy of opening night to his touchdown and the appreciation an audience brings to a great moment.

“Oh, how my heart went out to Rachel just then. Her precious play had literally exploded; her acting career, her life’s dream, had been converted into a big joke; she was humiliated in front of her parents, her classmates, and half the town; and now she was about to learn that her own little brother was the cause of it all.

Poor Rachel, who believed me when nobody else would--who even risked her life to save me from a burning stuffed animal! I had to find a way to make this easy on her. But how?

‘It was me,’ I blurted.”

Wallace has just saved the performance of Old Shep, My Pal from the bomb Dylan planted on the stuffed dog. Rachel is furious and demanding an explanation, and Wallace finally finds a reason to lie—to protect someone he cares about. Following this scene, Wallace goes back to telling the truth, showing that this moment doesn’t change his belief in honesty.

“Right on page one was a picture of Wallace leaping onto the exploding Old Shep. I blinked in surprise. It was exactly the same photograph as the big touchdown last year, with the stuffed dog taking the place of the football.”

This passage comes from the final chapter. Dylan shows Rachel a picture of Wallace taking down the stuffed dog, and she sees the similarity to his touchdown. The similarity symbolizes that Wallace’s strength is neither the play nor football, but actually coming to the rescue when people need him most. The picture is also what restores Dylan’s faith in Wallace because Wallace makes another amazing save.