Sharik

Sharik is the dog whose transformation into a human being proves temporary: in the closing scene he barks and rises from his chair, and the narration then returns him to a comfortable life beside Professor Preobrazhensky. His final reflections restore the novel’s perspective to the animal himself, whose sense of belonging survives even as he regards the experiment’s physical trace and his uncertain pedigree with characteristic indifference.

Identity and Return

At the close of the novel, Sharik is again a dog living in Professor Preobrazhensky’s apartment. The professor explains that science has not found a way to turn animals into people and describes the attempt as unsuccessful: the transformed subject had begun to revert to a primitive state. Sharik’s sudden bark and movement from his chair immediately confirm that return in action. The ending therefore makes the reversal visible before settling into the dog’s restored domestic routine.

Life in the Apartment

The final image places Sharik stretched out on the carpet beside the leather couch while the professor sits nearby. The grey radiators hiss, the blinds shut out the night sky over Prechistenka Street, and the warmth eases the discomfort Sharik feels around the circular scar on his skull. That discomfort is particularly noticeable in the morning, when the March fog makes his head ache, but by evening it has lessened. The ordinary rhythm of pain easing into comfort gives the return to canine life a concrete, domestic scale.

Self-Perception and Memory

Sleepily, Sharik considers himself extraordinarily fortunate and says in thought that he is settled in the apartment. He is less certain about his pedigree: he concludes that he has no Labrador blood and speculates about his grandmother. The operation has left a circular scar, but he dismisses it as none of his business. His thoughts join the evidence of change to a distinctly canine self-understanding: he recognizes that his head was operated on without treating that fact as a reason to question his place in the household.

Relationships and Narrative Significance

Sharik’s closing contentment is tied to his life beside the professor, whom the narration identifies as a benefactor of dogs. The professor’s account of the failed transformation frames the experiment from the standpoint of scientific limits; Sharik’s quiet thoughts shift the emphasis to what remains for the animal after it. The ending thus contrasts the human explanation of the experiment with Sharik’s simpler measure of its outcome: he is warm, comfortable, and settled in the apartment. His return to the dog’s perspective closes the story by making domestic belonging, rather than human status, the decisive fact of his restored life.