Louise Erdrich "Almost Soup"

I liked this short story even though I was terrified the whole time that the people would actually end up eating the dog, who barely escaped that dismal fate and walked away with the name Almost Soup instead. This story shows the importance of dogs in Native American culture, especially to the Ojibwa tribe. The dogs are used as offerings to the spirits whenever a human dies in some type of accident. Dogs are also important because of the companionship they offer. In this story Cally, a little girl, saves Almost Soup from being soup when he is just a puppy. Cally loves Almost Soup and vice versa. When Cally catches sick Almost Soup is there with her the whole time and even accompanies them to the hospital. Towards the end when they are in the hospital Almost Soup says he put Cally's life back inside of her, and he says that he took it to keep it safe until Cally recovered from her illness. This concept of a dog being able to hold onto someone's life and keep it safe while they are ill shows the Ojibwa's belief that they are connected to nature. They view nature and humanity together, connected by one large universal soul that embodies everyone and everything. That is why they offer animal sacrifices, and that is why Almost Soup was able to hold onto Cally's life while she was sick to keep it safe. Cally saved Almost Soup from death when he was a puppy, and now he is returning the favor to keep Cally alive and safe.