44 pages • 1-hour read
Heart of a Dog
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Symbols & Motifs
Content Warning: This section of the guide includes discussion of animal cruelty, death, and sexual harassment.
Operatic Music and Theater
The motif of theatrical verse points to the similarities between Bulgakov and Philipovich. In addition to being a doctor like his fictional character, Bulgakov loved the theater, notably two operatic pieces: Don Juan by Tolstoy and Aïda by Verdi. Throughout The Heart of a Dog, Philipovich often repeats the lines, “To the sacred banks of the Nile,” (from Aïda) and, “From Seville unto Granada,” (from Don Juan). Within the framework of the novella, Philipovich’s constant recourse to humming or singing these works to himself suggests that he sees himself as one of the romantic protagonists of these dramatic plays. The singing transports him out of his ordinary life and into an operatic play where he is the star, reinforcing his heightened sense of self-importance.
Bulgakov suggests that Philipovich’s fondness for opera evidences his taste for the high culture associated with the bourgeoisie. In contrast, the proletarian and anti-intellectual Sharik has no fondness for Aïda or the theater. Before his transformation, he complains about his time in the park being marred by an “old groaner singing ‘O celeste Aïda’ out in the moonlight til it makes you sick” (4). Even once made into a human, Sharikov declares the theater is “just crap…talk, talk. Pure counterrevolution” (105). He has no respect for this high art and no interest in Philipovich’s nostalgia for operatic epics, underscoring his baseness and emphasizing the limits of Transforming Bodies to Transform Society.
Stuffed Owl
Traditionally, the owl, a symbol of the Greek goddess, Athena, represents wisdom. When Sharik arrives in Philipovich’s study, he immediately notices a “striking […] enormous owl, perched on a branch fastened to the wall” (21), symbolic of the professor’s wisdom and intelligence as a practitioner of cutting-edge medical science. Even before Sharik is transformed into a human, he is suspicious of the owl, thinking to himself, “I wish I knew what that owl was doing here” (22), and describing it as a “cheeky brute” (28). This instant dislike foreshadows Sharikov’s later resentment of and disinterest in intellectual pursuits.
Sharik’s destruction of the stuffed owl is symbolic of the dynamic between Philipovich and his creation, emphasizing the novella’s theme of Class Conflict in Domestic Spaces. After being taken in by Philipovich, Sharik’s health begins to improve. When he feels well enough, he attacks and destroys the owl. The results are described in vivid detail: “From its disembodied stomach flowed a stream of red rags that smelled of mothballs” (49). Philipovich cares for Sharik and attempts to improve him. In response, Sharik destroys Philipovich’s things and actively rejects his pursuit of knowledge.
Sharik’s response to the owl can also be read as illustrative of the role of fate in the novella. Sharik is a dog who acts as a dog does, by attacking birds. Shortly before his transformation, he reflects, “What is freedom? Vapor, mirage, fiction” (56), suggesting that Sharik(ov) is essentially destined to attack or resent the professor’s knowledge, despite Philipovich’s efforts to transform him into a New Man.
The Testicles and the Pituitary Gland
In The Heart of a Dog, Sharik the dog is transformed into Sharikov the man when Philipovich implants the testicles and the pituitary gland of a recently deceased man named Klim Chugunkin into the dog’s body. Within the narrative, these organs symbolize manhood and virility. Like the transformation overall, Sharikov’s newfound sexuality as a result of this transplant is essentially destructive; he attempts to take advantage of the female household staff and pinches a woman in the “bosom.” The pituitary gland is described by Philipovich as “a magic box that determines the individual human image […] It’s the brain itself in miniature” (123). When he implants the brutish Chugunkin’s pituitary into Sharik’s brain, it imposes itself on the structure of Sharik’s brain as a whole and subsequently on Sharikov’s body. In Philipovich’s view, humans are determined or fated to follow the hormonal dictates of these glands, the testicles and the pituitary. Instead of reveling in this discovery, Philipovich despairs because the natural structural determinism of these glands illustrates the limits of his attempts at Transforming Bodies to Transform Society.
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