Abuse in Kitbull and The Half Husky

The realities of abuse and the different effects and outcomes that it has on its victims are effectively shown throughout both Rosana Sullivan’s short film “Kitbull”, and Margaret Laurence’s short story “The Half Husky”.  In ”The Half Husky”, the author explores the idea of cycles of abuse and where they originally stem from, while ”Kitbull”, focuses more on the effects that abuse has on one's self and their personal relationships.

In both these pieces, the characters are shown to struggle with trust issues, behavioral issues and trouble maintaining relationships, as a result of their abuse. In ”The Half Husky”, the character Nanuk is first introduced to the reader as an innocent, wide eyed puppy but this quickly changes when Nanuk becomes the victim of constant abuse and neglect. Nanuk’s “unrecognizable face” and “demented eyes”(153), after one of his encounters with Harvey, are a clear indication that this character has turned violent, aggressive and untrusting, as a result of this abuse. In “Kitbull” The dog is also presented in a more confident and outgoing manner at the beginning, but after suffering from abuse and neglect, similar to “The Half Husky”, he turns shy, wary and distrusting of others. Both of these examples show how the long term effects of abuse can easily cause one to lose sight of themselves or even lose sight of the people that surround them. 

These stories also show how environment and circumstances can play a big part in the cycle that turns the abused into the abuser. In “The Half Husky”, when Harvey’s aunt “hit him across the face” with a “wooden spoon”(158), he has no reaction and it’s implied that Harvey has little to no control over his aunt or his home life. This is one of the few things that explains why Harvey acts the way he does towards Nanuk. He is taking the abuse he receives at home, and translating it into violent and abusive behavior towards others. However, while “The Half Husky” portrays the cycle of abuse as unavoidable and unbreakable, “Kitbull” gives the viewer another, more positive outcome when two separate characters, living in similar situations work together to overcome their pasts of abuse. 

Abuse is shown through the eyes of many different characters throughout both “Kitbull” and “The Half Husky”. These different perspectives show that abuse isn’t as one sided as one may think and that everybody who suffers from abuse, suffers differently.