travels with Charley
In the memoir travels with Charley the author John Steinbeck is traveling with a dog, if he were to be traveling with a human would the story change. Yes, because in the book Travels with Charley, Charley is a male dog and is the authors best friend and travel companion. If his travel buddy was a human being, the way the book talked about him would change. For example, on page 12 the story says that Charley needs to salute to a bush or a tree and after he gets two or three biscuits, if the friend was a human he would not talk about him peeing nor would he give him biscuits for peeing. On page 54 when he talked about Charley having trouble peeing if his travel partner was a person he would not talk about his trouble peeing. On page 57 he also talks about how Charley would not be able to make it across the border unless he gets his vaccines if charlie was a human he would not have to go through any trouble to get back over the border, for example, if a human were to have all his papers and information he would not have to get vaccinated again in order to get over the border, but charlie who is a dog does.
Steinbeck also mentions in the book that the person at the national park said quote "Charley should be on a leash" unquote if charlie was a human he would not have to be on a leash. He also mentioned how charlie becomes a bloodthirsty bear killer, if charlie were to be human he would not have become a quote bloodthirsty bear killer. The book also talks about charlie having bladder problems, if charlie were to be human he would not bring up the fact that his friend has bladder issues. If Charley were to be a human the whole story would change because the whole plot of the story is Steinbeck getting out and getting to know his country better. If he had a human for his company he would be distracted by conversations with his friend and would not fully enjoy his country if he were to be distracted by an actual person, hence the reason he has Charley as his travel partner.
The companionship would also change affecting the story greatly, for example if his travel partner were to be a human. The relationship would change between them if his travel friend were to be a human he could express his opinion and potentially make Steinbeck mad or make him regret his decision. Or the person could find interest in another person and associate with them more than they do with Steinbeck and this could make Steinbeck feel so badly that he shuts down and shuts the person out. with a dog as his partner, the dog could not express its opinion so Steinbeck could not get angry. His relationship with Charley would be much stronger because he has had him for a while which causes the interactions to be more lively and full of expression.
Given the facts, the story would change drastically if Charley were to be a human because of the way Steinbeck addresses him. The story would change whether you think it changes positively or not, the whole story would change negatively if Charley was a person. Because it would not have the same feeling of loneliness and it would not create an urge to keep reading to find out if he eventually makes it home and gets to see his family again.