The most fascinating part of the WE3 plot for me was when the dog discovers that the machine is not a part of him. This moment of self discovery is profound, but it is also expressed in simple language. The moment is revealed in only four words, “is coat not we (105 Morrison and Quitely).” This moment is made possible when Roseanne tells “Bandit” his true name. Once the dog’s mechanized leg starts to break, he realizes the full implications of Roseanne’s words. In his limited vocabulary, the machine is comparable to a coat. It is like a garment that can be taken on and off. Yet the term “coat” is also symbolic. The term coat shows that this dog has realized that the machine is not real, and that the machine is actually covering his true identity:
BAD COAT. COAT. IS COAT NOT “BANDIT.”
After Bandit has this profound revelation of his true identity, he rips the machine off of Tinker as well. Once the machine is taken off Tinker and Bandit “IS HOME.”
Throughout the story, these pet animal killing machines have a sense of “home” and “self.” These questions are “the big questions” that many philosophers have explored through time. Yet the significance of this story plays out in the fact that the animals can explore these questions in speech similar to LOL-CAT quotes, “Can has cheezburger?”
In the end, home is not a place. It is a feeling. It is the feeling one gets when they find themselves. This is going to be extremely clishe – don’t hate me – but “home is where the heart is.” “Bandit” discovers this when he finds out the answer to “is where B Bandit? (Morrison and Quitely 113).”
