"Tapka" Response

David Bezmozgis' fictitious short story, Tapka, tells a childhood memory of a young boy charged with looking after his neighbors' dog, Tapka.  The child, Mark, and his family are Russian immigrants with minimals english, traits they share with their neighbors, Misha and Rita Nahumovsky.  When the Nahumovsky's moved to Canada, their precious dog, Tapka was put into temporary quarantine.  Upon her release, Rita is overjoyed and young Mark eagerly bonds with the animal.  Soon, Mark and his friend, Jana, are entrusted with the responsibility of playing with Tapka during their lunch breaks from school.  On fateful afternoon, the dog lost sight of her toy and, instead, chased after a bird... directly into traffic.  After an emotional trip to the vet, it is determined that the dog will be ok, however, it is implied that the children will never be forgiven for that moment of error.

This piece has a very well developed story arch.  It starts out with Mark only hearing anecdotes about the mysterious dog, then he meets her, which leads to his close bond with the creature, and the eventual tragedy.

Additionally, the Bezmozgis' use of imagery added tone to the accident scene.  He kept repeating the word "red" over and over, giving a sense of blood everywhere, or at least it would seem that way to a young child.  "I hadn’t expected it to be red, although I also hadn’t expected it to be not-red. Set against the gray asphalt and her white coat, Tapka’s blood was the red I envisioned when I closed my eyes and thought: red," (Bezmozgis).  The repeated use of this adjective makes the injured dog's blood the uncontested center of the scene and adds emotion to the moment.

The story is tied up nicely at the end when the narrorator realizes that, despite the fact that the creature will survive, in Rita's mind he "killed Tapka and [he] will never be forgiven," (Bezmozgis).  Admittedly, it is not the most uplifting end to the saga, however, it is clean and definite; it does not leave the reader with any unanswered questions about the fate of the characters.