What becomes evident is that dogs, as talked about in the text, serve as metaphors for power dynamics. Here, dogs are used in literature to criticise both colonial exploitation and post-independence disillusionment. This quote from Chenjerai Hove’s Bones stuck out to me especially: “Your dogs are fat as hippos while ours are blown away by the wind” (158). The visual it created in my memory highlights the stark comparison and contradicting facets within these systems of oppression; it shows how dogs, functioning as literary representations, provide a lens through which writers can explore the failures of nationalist projects while reflecting the masses’ unmet expectations. In this way, dogs become perhaps more than metaphors or symbols, and additionally take on the roles of active contributors to the narrative.