A Dog Called Homeless

In A Dog Called Homeless, Cally’s mom wears a red raincoat and a green hat whenever Cally sees her. Cally first sees her mom after she has died on the one-year anniversary of her death, “standing on the wall of the cemetery, wearing her red raincoat and green rain hat” (6). The raincoat symbolizes grief and coincides with the excessive rain that falls throughout the story. Like the family’s grief, the rain has been coming down and has nowhere to go. Cally’s mom’s raincoat is an extension of that parallel.

In addition, Mom’s red raincoat is a fast identifier for Cally. She sees the red raincoat often before she sees Mom herself and always at a time when Cally needs her most. When she appears in the red raincoat, Mom is usually with someone who is alive and will be part of Cally’s next chapter in life. It happens when Cally sees Jed: “it was a red raincoat. […] And then, just when Jed came past her, [Mom] joined him, walked alongside him” (45). Jed is an important part of Cally’s grieving process and helps fill a hole in the story of Mom’s death. Mom also appears in the red raincoat with