The Significance of Animals In The Eyes of the Dragon

Although it may seem quite absurd, the role of animals in The Eyes of the Dragon is a

very supreme and dignified part of the novel. Through the development of the novel, the

animal kingdom roars from insects to dogs and they all play their own, individual roles. The

great black and white Anduan Husky named Frisky who is, out of all of her dogs, Naomi's

favorite, leads Ben Staad and Naomi directly to the whereabouts of Dennis, Peter's butler.

Flagg's animals are symbols of his plans for the downfall of Delain. The dragon that is killed by

King Roland may be considered the most the memorable of all. In this archetypal tale, Thomas

sees Flagg murder Thomas's father through the eyes of the dragon. In the end of the novel,

though, all of the animals' roles fall into place.

Frisky, Naomi's companion, is a strong-willed, over-confident, Anduan Husky who may

be the "greatest tracking dog that ever lived" (King 297). This dog sums up the meaning of a

man's best friend. Frisky, who can track a three-day-old scent in the middle winter, is the reason

the story takes place as it does. Just as arson dogs help pinpoint the location of substances used

to start fires, Frisky uses her keen sense of smell to pinpoint exactly where Dennis, son of

Brandon, has journeyed to from Peyna's farmhouse. Dennis's mission is to go back to the castle

where Thomas the Tax-Bringer and Flagg, the king's magician, live and are at high power.

Peyna, who has just given up his Judge-General's bench, has a feeling that there is some reason

why Peter has asked for the Royal Napkins and his mother's dollhouse. Dennis is to find this

reason by sending a letter to Peter, who is imprisoned at the time. Dennis journeys from Peyna's

farm in the Inner Baronies back to the fearful castle with nothing except for the risks of getting

killed. Five days later, with not a soul knowing the whereabouts of Dennis, Naomi and Ben

Staad (Peter's best friend) come upon the deserted farm. Naomi's dogs have been pulling the

sleds for thirty miles all the way from a snowy hollow in which they were camping. The two

now feel helpless. With no clue on where there friend has traveled to, they search diligently for

any signs of what they are to do next and find nothing at all. "If only there were a way to track

him," Ben says and, thereafter, a light bulb lights in Naomi's head like the sun on a due-soaked

morning (King 296). This is the epitome of where Frisky fits into the picture. After brief

discussion and argument, Ben and Naomi discover that there are traces of Dennis in this

abandoned shed but it cannot be detected by humans. King substantially points out that Frisky's

sense of smell is like the "eyesight of a man with the gaze of a hawk" and that Dennis's scent is

a bright electric blue (King 299). After having stored the scent away in her "library of scents,"

Frisky leads her companions far and high, through many miles of snow to the deserted

farmhouse and eventually to a place in which they are forced to pause. This place is the castle

moat. One may appear dumbfounded considering why Frisky is referred to above as being

'over-confident.' At the moat, after some minor conflict, the Anduan Husky personally

expedites the situation and takes a leap of faith into the great sewer pipe which takes the

travelers under the castle and directly to Dennis's location. Besides the fact that Frisky's "noble

nose" is a theme and is considered by some a moral, there are more educational and

entertainment values here than in any other part of the story.

Flagg's animals aide him in all of his attempts to doom the kingdom of Delain. For

example, the deathwatch spider that Flagg has kept encaged for twenty years is his way to

attempt Sasha's murder. The spider has been feeding on newborn baby mice that are dying from

poison. The spider is blood red and as big as a rat (King 31). Flagg squeezes the spider to death

and mixes the deadly insides with a glass of brandy, something that Sasha drinks a glass of each

night to help her sleep. Flagg rings for a servant to come and take the glass to her. Sasha, the

King's beloved wife, never finds out how close to death she came that night (King 33). Another

example is the mouse Flagg uses to set up Peter. Flagg is a very powerful magician. With this

knowledge, no one would question Flagg's abilities to place Dragon Sand, the most deadly

substance of the time, into a box that he stole from Peter long ago and hide the box, along with

a mouse, into a secret place that, allegedly, only Peter knows about. Because the evidence of the

crime is found in a place that only Peter knows about, people begin to see a murderer's face

behind a mask of affection and respect (King 116). Because of this, Peter is then tried before a

jury and taken to the top of the needle where he is to spend the rest of his life.

The reader is introduced to the dragon at the beginning of the novel when King Roland

and others are hunting and are found by the fire-breathing creature. The young dragon is killed

when the brave King nocks his arrow, draws, and fires. Roland makes a direct hit in the spot

under the dragon's throat where it takes in air to create fire (King 13). The dragon dies

immediately. Otherwise called the Niner, the dragon's head is hung up in King Roland's sitting

room along with the head of every other animal in which the King had considered worth

keeping (King 92). The dragon's head is a major secret of the castle. Flagg, being the magician

he is, knows most secrets of the castle (No one, not even he, know all of them) (King 81).

Flagg, after Thomas has a bad day at a luncheon with his father, shows the secrets to Thomas,

for he has a feeling it may lead to mischief. This turns out to be true. The secret is this: After

one is led through a maze of corridors and through the "dim" door, he must press a certain stone

in order to access the passageway that is revealed after the click is heard (King 89). At the end

of the passageway, there are two little panels. After sliding these panels, one find himself

behind the Niner and will discover that he can see directly through the dragon's eyes. Though

heeding Flagg's advice not to go too often, Thomas is watching the night in which Flagg

poisons King Roland. But after Thomas is declared King, and years of dealing with terrible

nightmares, Thomas discovers one thing: guilt and secrets, like murdered bones, never rest easy

(King 167).

Stated in this collection of ideas is that the role of the animals in The Eyes of the Dragon

is a supreme and dignified part of the novel. The reader must reread the novel for any further

confirmation. In conclusion, one can now acknowledge that animals' effect on how something

takes place is important to everyday living as well as important to the world of literature.

This was written by Michael Peebles of Hoover, AL.

You can contact me at BeeraMid@aol.com