This story is filled with adventure, starring a narrator that is obsessed with a former girlfriend and decides to allow one impulse decision take him on a chaotic quest. The girlfriend is described in a way that would signify she has moved on with her life and he seems to be stuck in the past. In the story, "I'm a Mad Dog Biting Myself for Sympathy," written by Louise Erdrich, the narrator describes a character that is standing in line at Walgreens with a glorified stuffed animal he intends to purchase for his former girlfriend. A calm situation turns sour with one irrational lapse of judgment and the adventure begins. The title of the short story is an engaging invitation into the mind of this particular character and the theme of the story itself. By adventuring with the narrator of this story we observe a character that continually makes irrational decisions, places blame on anyone but himself, and reflects on the events to teach a lesson about carrying the past inside you.
Throughout the story, we are given clues that indicate the character is struggling emotionally and that this may cause him to make some very irrational choices. The first sentence is a setting the by him expressing that he is who he is and that is not going to change in the future. He refers to himself as being almost rehabilitated in the first paragraph. Later in the story we find out that this character's girlfriend left him and is now living with another man. The girlfriend is described in a way that would signify she has moved on with her life and he seems to be stuck in the same place. In his desperation to appeal to her, he decides to steal a toucan, steal a car, evade police, and finds himself in an unpredicted situation with a baby inside a snowstorm. .
Along this adventure, the narrator takes moments to reflect on the characters thought processes. Clearly, this is a character that refuses to take responsibility for his actions and places the blame anywhere but on himself.
