Part Three: Chapter Eighteen, The Dog Beneath the Skin Summary and Analysis

Stephen D. is a young medical student who engages in drug use, namely cocaine and PCP. One night he dreams he is a dog and is able to "view" the world as a dog would through a keen sense of smell. For three weeks, Stephen is able to smell things he never would have noticed before. He states things are not really real to him until he has smelled them. After his enhanced sense of smell dissipates, Stephen is both relieved and saddened. He feels he loses something generally lost to civilized society.

The thing Stephen loses when his enhanced sense of smell vanishes is a lack of inhibition. Dogs are not inhibited by social standards and so are able to gain a stronger sense...