With the Vietnam war as the backdrop for the novel, any discussion of Dog Soldiers should provoke the controversy surrounding the American involvement in Vietnam. For Stone, the amorality associated with the war is horrifically reflected in the American psyche, and it would be interesting to compare Dog Soldiers with other fictional treatments of the war, notably John Briley's The Traitors (1969), Charles Durden's No Bugles, No Drums (1976), Larry Heinemann's Close Quarters (1977), James Webb's Fields of Fire (1978), and Tim O'Brien's Going After Cacciato (1978).

1. As the war in Vietnam comes home to America, the "Dog Soldiers" of the title takes on several implications. Discuss the meaning of the title in relation to the major and minor characters of the novel.

2. How does Dog Soldiers aspire to what one critic has called "the condition of allegory"?

3. Much of Stone's novel revolves around the element of suspense. What other similarities...