52 pages • 1 hour read
Alexandra FullerDon't Let's Go to the Dogs Tonight
Nonfiction | Autobiography / Memoir | Adult | Published in 2001A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Chapters 1-8Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Chapter 1 Summary: “Rhodesia, 1975“
Content Warning: This section of the guide describes and discusses the novel’s depictions of graphic violence, alcohol use disorder, death, sexual assault, and systemic racism.
During the Rhodesian Bush War, Alexandra’s parents sleep with loaded guns nearby, cautioning the then-6-year-old not to startle them at night. Alexandra wakes her older sister, Vanessa, for a trip to the bathroom, and both take turns watching out for snakes and scorpions. Vanessa advises against reading an adult magazine both find in the bathroom, which their mother had explained was not suitable behavior for their race, referencing her belief in their family’s racial superiority.
Vanessa frightens Alexandra by playfully claiming there‘s a terrorist under her bed. As Alexandra starts to cry, Vanessa reassures and comforts her sister to avoid waking their parents. The next morning, the family gathers for breakfast.
Chapter 2 Summary: “Getting There: Zambia, 1987”
Alexandra grapples with her identity, feeling disconnected from England, her birthplace, and the African countries she‘s lived in. Her mother, Nicola Fuller, shares this struggle, seeking solace in Scottish music and heavy drinking, longing for a homeland she‘s never truly known.
18-year-old Alexandra declines her mother’s offer to drink together, packing for her return to boarding school in Zimbabwe instead. During the drive to the border, her father, Tim Fuller, attempts to soothe Nicola’s erratic behavior, while Alexandra reflects nostalgically on her experiences in Africa. Tensions escalate at the border crossing, with Alexandra’s father growing increasingly agitated and making racist comments about the customs officials. The family ultimately resorts to bribery to secure passage and appease the officials.
Chapter 3 Summary: “Chimurenga: Zambia, 1999”
Alexandra, now 30 years old and married, visits her family in Zambia from the United States, feeling a strong sense of nostalgia. The family hosts a polite English guest who has come to Zambia to advise on state-owned businesses.
During dinner, Alexandra’s mother expresses regret over the loss of white rule in Kenya and former Rhodesia, making racist remarks and emphasizing the deaths of white settlers and government troops. Despite her husband’s attempts to change the subject, Nicola continues her drunken tirade, pestering their guest with her stories until the next day.
Chapter 4 Summary: “Chimurenga: The Beginning”
In the late 19th century, British settlers led by Cecil John Rhodes seized control of parts of southern Africa, establishing a colony later named Rhodesia. Local peoples resisted colonization in what became known as the first war for independence, or the First Chimurenga. The conflict gets its name from Sekuru Kaguvi, known as Murenga (resister), a prominent African fighter. The British settlers’ methods for suppressing the rebellion led to hundreds of deaths. White rule was temporarily secured in the region.
Alexandra’s parents moved to Rhodesia when the yearning for self-determination among the Black majority had already ignited the Rhodesian Bush War, or Second Chimurenga—a war for Black majority rule against the ruling white minority.
Chapter 5 Summary: “Adrian: Rhodesia, 1968”
Alexandra’s mother experienced profound grief after the death of her infant son, Adrian, to meningitis. Nicola often recounts the tragic event, particularly when intoxicated, highlighting it as the family’s defining tragedy. The Fullers decide to leave Rhodesia, conceiving Alexandra before their departure to England, where she is born.
Chapter 6 Summary: “Coming-Back Babies”
Alexandra rejects a prevalent African belief regarding infant mortality, where deceased babies are believed to reincarnate multiple times in search of a new life. She acknowledges the tragic loss of three out of five born children in her family but dismisses the belief as a coping mechanism for those who have faced similar tragedies. Instead, she asserts her own identity and worldly essence.
Chapter 7 Summary: “England, 1969”
Alexandra’s family struggles to adapt to life in England. They purchase a farm but soon sell it before deciding to return to Rhodesia. Alexandra’s father flies back to Rhodesia, while Alexandra, her mother, and their two dogs follow by ship.
The journey south along the African coast reignites a sense of belonging in Alexandra’s mother. Alexandra falls ill during the voyage, prompting her mother to rush her to the nearest hospital. After her recovery, the family resumes their journey the next day, heading toward Karoi, Rhodesia.
Chapter 8 Summary: “Karoi”
Back in Rhodesia, the Fullers settle in Karoi, a region known for its dry, scorching weather and frequent dust storms. Vanessa attends the local school while Alexandra stays home with the nanny and cook, often observing military vehicles that pass by the farm.
One day, while playing in the bamboo, Alexandra is bitten by a tick in her private parts. Despite her screams for help, the nanny and cook refuse to assist, deeming it improper. Alexandra suffers until her mother returns home. Upon Nicola’s return, Alexandra runs toward her, seeking help and exposing the area. Nicola scolds her for exposing herself to the African staff before removing the tick.
Chapters 1-8 Analysis
Fuller introduces the reality of her upbringing in a war-torn environment right from the start of her memoir. The opening chapter presents a picture of a family living under constant threat of violence, sleeping with guns by their sides. This setting immediately establishes The Impact of Colonialism and War as a central theme.
Alexandra’s acute awareness of her circumstances, even as a child, highlights the psychological toll of such conditions, particularly on children. Throughout the memoir, the stark contrast between the expected innocence of childhood and the grim reality of life in war-torn Rhodesia recurs, with exposure to violence becoming a defining aspect of Alexandra’s upbringing. The portrayal of the Fuller household, full of snakes and scorpions and from which Alexandra can see military vehicles passing by, further accentuates the hostile environment Alexandra grew up in. Alexandra grapples with the dichotomy between her emotional attachment to Africa and her upbringing as a white settler, introducing the theme of Negotiating Identity in a Postcolonial Context. Born in England but raised in Rhodesia, she finds herself torn between two worlds, feeling as though she belongs to neither: “My soul has no home. I am neither African nor English nor am I of the sea” (36). Her inner conflict is palpable as she reflects on the confusion surrounding her sense of self: “But what are you?’ I am asked over and over again” (10). This recurring interrogation underscores her struggle to reconcile her heritage with her family’s role within British colonization.
However, despite claiming no ties to a specific place, Alexandra showcases a deep-rooted attachment to Africa as a whole, often referring to it as “home”: “I am here visiting from America […] So happy to be home I feel as if I’m swimming in syrup” (23). Alexandra’s embrace of post-colonial Africa as “home” diverges from her parents’ fixation on white supremacy and their belief in the validity of the former white-dominated rule in Rhodesia, highlighting Alexandra’s innate sense of belonging to the broader African continent and her desire to feel that she is an insider, not an outsider. However, in doing so, the author inadvertently perpetuates a common stereotype of Africa as a monolithic entity, overlooking its diverse cultural, linguistic, and historical nuances. In navigating identity, Alexandra‘s connection to Africa juxtaposes with her upbringing as a white settler, exemplifying the complexities inherent in her upbringing and revealing some of the biases of her perspective.
Despite her family’s efforts to instill in her a sense of racial superiority, Alexandra increasingly opposes their worldview, exposing The Complexities of Personal History. As a child, despite reproducing the family’s racism in her interactions with servants, she questions her mother’s teachings, pushing back against racist rationale. Furthermore, she emphasizes the resilience of the land and its indigenous peoples, suggesting that colonization was futile in the face of local resistance and rightful land claims: “[H]ow can we, who shed our ancestry the way a snake sheds skin in winter, hope to win against this history?” (29). By invoking the imagery of a snake shedding its skin, Alexandra suggests that white settlers have undergone a transformation in their migration to Africa, as they sought to reinvent themselves. However, she acknowledges the inherent conflict between settlers’ desire for belonging and their oppressive role in the societies they colonize.
For Alexandra’s parents, settling in then-Rhodesia promised social status and economic prosperity. Despite their relatively comfortable life in England, they found themselves unfulfilled, yearning for a sense of purpose and significance, but also social status: “[I]t was unthinkable to either of my parents to continue living in such ordinarily lower-middle-class circumstances” (37). This reveals a deeper truth about the allure of colonization for white settlers: It offered them a sense of power and privilege that they lacked in their homeland, enticing them with the prospect of upward social mobility and a chance to assert dominance. This perspective challenges the prevailing narrative of colonial triumphalism, offering a critique of the justifications used by white settlers to justify their presence in Africa.
Alexandra’s mother’s portrayal unveils the disturbing family dynamics within the Fuller household. Nicola’s misuse of alcohol, depicted as a regular occurrence, casts a shadow over the family. Born into this environment, Alexandra has never known any version of her mother that deviated from this pattern. The author pinpoints the predictability of her mother’s intoxicated behavior, highlighting how accustomed the family has become to it. Despite the visceral depiction of Nicola’s alcohol misuse, there is a sense of normalcy ingrained within the family, suggesting that such dysfunction has become an inherent part of their lives. This normalization is further emphasized by Alexandra’s nostalgia for the chaotic routine of her troubled family life, epitomized by her description of returning “home” to Africa and engaging in familiar vices.
