Yellow Dog (novel) - Major Themes

Major Themes

The novel can be read as a meditation upon male violence. The threat of the comet is, like the idea of time reversal in Time’s Arrow, and the total eclipse in London Fields, another instance of Amis’s frequent use of awe-inspiring natural phenomena, and of devices derived from science fiction, as a means of conveying a sense of doom. This sense is heightened by the theme of ethical decline that is another hallmark of Amis’s work, and is manifest in the novel’s treatment of subjects such as incest, adultery, sexual exploitation, and violence. The character of Russia Meo is an expert on the children of tyrants, and it seems evident that the author is drawing parallels between power and tyranny on both the large and the small scale. Sympathy for the victims of abusive power – particularly children – is implied, but there is also a disturbing sense of helplessness in the face of human (particularly male) depravity. The only note of redemption offered lies with Xan’s struggle against his worst impulses and his slow, difficult reconciliation with his wife and children.