GETTING COMFORTABLE

On Kashtanka’s first day at the second home, everything was exciting and new. Just a month later, it has grown habitual, expected, and dull. The narrator shifts from “the stranger” and “Kashtanka” to “the master” and “Auntie.” Destrangement has taken place, but this familiarity leads to tedium and melancholy. In the puppet production, the audience sees Auntie’s apathy toward everything around her. Instead of delighting at the gander’s singing, Auntie curls up, using her tail to cover her ears. Whereas before, the gander had gotten annoyed with the dog for trying to eat from his bowl, now Ivan Ivanitch calls