In Francine Prose’s “Talking Dog,” love plays a crucial role in the relationship between the narrator and the sister and how their love for each other has affected the ones around them. Due to them being siblings, there is sibling rivalry, as we see in the following quote:“At the moment I understand that men would always like her better, prefer her smoky opacity to a transparent face like mine. “ (Prose. 509). This rivalry does not affect their love for each other, but it does affect the sister’s reputation for being reliable.
Another way that their love is tried is with the narrator’s feelings for Jimmy Kowalcuck. In the beginning of the book, her love for him is romantic, and she wants him to think of her as a woman instead of a little kid. As time progresses, her love drifts from romantic thought to a more competitive thought as we see in the following quote: “For a fraction of a second I thought I might still want him. But I didn’t want him. I just didn’t her to have him forever.”( Prose.512). The narrator’s feelings change because of her sibling rivalry with her sister. Her sister has been given everything she wants while the narrator never gets a chance to have attention. So the narrator wants to take Jimmy to get his attention, not for love.