The Fall of the Holmes Household

A Boy and His Dog

Traces the destruction of one Topeka family, Ira's complicity, the bedroom murder, Quilla June's rejection, and Mrs. Holmes left alone amid the ruins.

increasing

Bearing strength in each event

decreasing

The Complicit Father The Complicit Father from "A Boy and His Dog". The Complicit Father The Sold Daughter Ira Holmes was present at the Bureau when the lure plan was proposed; his yellow, unhappy face marks him as the father…

The Complicit Father from "A Boy and His Dog". The Complicit Father The Sold Daughter Ira Holmes was present at the Bureau when the lure plan was proposed; his yellow, unhappy face marks him as the father…

The Complicit Father The Sold Daughter Ira Holmes was present at the Bureau when the lure plan was proposed; his yellow, unhappy face marks him as the father who gave his daughter to the scheme. The word 'capable' in Lew's mouth confirms Quilla June's assignment. The Quiet Collapse Ira's Christianity and his obedience to the elders coexist without friction; he will sit in church after arranging his daughter's seduction. His fate is sealed the moment he agrees.

The Strained Tribute at Tea The Strained Tribute at Tea from "A Boy and His Dog". The Strained Tribute at Tea The Family on Display In the Holmes parlor, the older version of Quilla June serves strained smiles while Ira's jaw muscles jump.

The Strained Tribute at Tea from "A Boy and His Dog". The Strained Tribute at Tea The Family on Display In the Holmes parlor, the older version of Quilla June serves strained smiles while Ira's jaw muscles jump.

The Strained Tribute at Tea The Family on Display In the Holmes parlor, the older version of Quilla June serves strained smiles while Ira's jaw muscles jump. The father's hatred of Vic is barely contained; the mother's politeness is a performance with a gun underneath. The House of Hypocrisy Vic, who has seen the whole spectrum of human nastiness, reads the household in a second: the daughters are property, the prayers are for show, and the civility is a cage. His contempt for Ira is almost honorable.

The Two-Sock Cavity The Two-Sock Cavity from "A Boy and His Dog". The Two-Sock Cavity The Trap Behind the Door Vic finds the headboard brass balls, drops them in one of Ira's socks, and stages the scene that will destroy the…

The Two-Sock Cavity from "A Boy and His Dog". The Two-Sock Cavity The Trap Behind the Door Vic finds the headboard brass balls, drops them in one of Ira's socks, and stages the scene that will destroy the…

The Two-Sock Cavity The Trap Behind the Door Vic finds the headboard brass balls, drops them in one of Ira's socks, and stages the scene that will destroy the household: Quilla June naked on the bed, calling for her Poppa. Ira enters to his secret desire and dies by it. The Family Ends One blow kills the father, the mother is lied to, the daughter vomits her loyalty out on the floor. In a single minute the Holmes family ceases to exist as anything but a corpse, a widow, and a fugitive.

The Widow in the Parlor The Widow in the Parlor from "A Boy and His Dog". The Widow in the Parlor The Good Lord Got Him Vic walks past Mrs.

The Widow in the Parlor The Good Lord Got Him Vic walks past Mrs. Holmes with the news that her husband lies in the back bedroom, killed by the Good Lord in the head. She stares, wondering where her old man is, and the irony is mechanical: the town's God laughs at the men who invoked him. The Expended Character Mrs. Holmes is the story's silent reckoning, a woman whose place in the breeding crisis was never consulted, whose daughter was sold, whose husband is dead. She is collateral damage in every system that surrounds her.

The Daughter's Rifle The Daughter's Rifle from "A Boy and His Dog". The Daughter's Rifle The Mother as Target Quilla June sights down at her mother on the street and is only prevented from firing by Vic's slap.

The Daughter's Rifle from "A Boy and His Dog". The Daughter's Rifle The Mother as Target Quilla June sights down at her mother on the street and is only prevented from firing by Vic's slap.

The Daughter's Rifle The Mother as Target Quilla June sights down at her mother on the street and is only prevented from firing by Vic's slap. It is the last appearance of the mother, doing a little dance-step to dodge and keep coming, anonymous in the mob that is hunting her own child. The Completion of the Fall A family that began the story as the town's respectable unit ends it as a cautionary ruin: father dead, mother dodging bullets, daughter lost to the wasteland. Topeka's experiment consumed its own volunteers first.

the Better Business Bureau planning, before the story

Vic's visit to Marigold Street, a week after capture

the escape morning, in the back bedroom

minutes after the bludgeoning

the fight in the business district