The Story of Tille and the Dog Man is about two lonely people who experience suffering and deep injustice. They persist, though, through friendship and mutual understanding, and by taking care of each other. Tille, the protagonist, is a 7-year-old girl. She ends up alone and neglected after her mother’s death. The Dog Man, a drifter and recluse who goes to the tunnel to play his accordion every day, happens to be Tille’s neighbor. He lives in a small, one-room basement apartment, in a building that was meant to be torn down ages ago. The Dog Man has pets—a cat, and two dogs with unusual names: Prince and Monk. In time, Tille and the Dog Man become best friends. The little girl makes sure everything in the Dog Man’s house is neat and tidy, waits for him to come home every day, and tells the dogs stories. He, in turn, becomes a loving father-figure to Tille, and provides for her. At the end of the story, a representative from the local orphans’ rights association gets involved. She arrives with a policeman to take Tille to the orphanage. But Tille doesn’t want to live at the orphanage, and the Dog Man doesn’t want to hand her over to the authorities. As the argument escalates, both dogs attack the policeman, who defends himself, shooting and killing Prince in the process. These two authority figures leave, promising to come back. Tille and the Dog Man don’t wait around for them. Instead, they run away to the countryside in search of a better life, along with Monk the dog.

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