“When you’re most invisible of all”: The Search for Identity in Jon McGregor’s Even the Dogs

Abstract

Individual and social identity have generally been considered inseparable components of a person’s self-concept. When the social identity of a person is marginalised or stigmatised, his or her individual concept of self gets disrupted. In Even the Dogs, Jon McGregor utilises the metaphor of home to explore the individual and social negotiation of identity. The novel illustrates the struggle of a homeless group in forming individual identities when their social identities are lost and unrecognised. This study advances knowledge of the meanings of home and homelessness and contributes to existing understandings of identity formation in relation to marginalised groups.

Keywords

• social identity
• individual identity
• home
• jon mcgregor
• homelessness
• contemporary fiction