The dogs play a significant role throughout The Story of Edgar Sawtelle. In fact, they are the only characters Edgar can wholly rely on, especially as he comes to terms with the portentous events surrounding him. Wroblewski makes their important role clear throughout the novel by using Almondine, the dog who works both as Edgar's guide and as his closest companion, as a central character.
Wroblewski even puts parts of the plot through the eyes and ears of Almondine, which also highlights the unique gift Edgar has: as a mute boy, he often communicates with the dogs better than with other human beings.
Wroblewski is also hinting at the significance of events, not only through the text (Trudy trains her dogs "like a queen dismissing courtiers," for example) but also through the placement of characters. One such character is Ida Paine, a local grocery store owner who acts like an oracle figure, constantly predicting the future and pointing characters to the tragic endings that face them. In the Almondine chapters, the dog's expressions of the world around her express the emotions Edgar feels but is not able to express himself. Other characters, such as Claude, work as antagonists which Edgar must overcome, and Wroblewski clearly hints at his source material in their placement within the text.
Although Wroblewski isn't afraid to borrow heavily from Shakespeare to fashion his novel, some elements work better than others. For example, Edgar's journey to find himself is a much more interesting development in the book than the tragic ending, even if the tragic ending is expected. Equally, Wroblewski sometimes awkwardly places the events of Hamlet into the text in far too literal terms; Edgar seeing the ghostly embodiment of his father or re-enacting his murder in front of everyone is a bit predictable, and could have been portrayed in a more modern way.
At the same time, The Story of Edgar Sawtelle is a wonderful book that deals well with the elements of tragedy in a modern setting. The fact that Wroblewski has created a coming-of-age tale around Edgar's personal revelations and his relationship with his dogs makes it even better. Wroblewski is clearly a writer who knows how to craft an American novel that is willing to reinvent the stories of the past, and if this debut novel is any indication, we can expect even greater things from Wroblewski in the future.
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