American Icons

Murray the Outlaw of Falahill, AKA Fala Roosevelt
Fala represents friendship. A dog is always known to be a man's best friend, and Fala is no exception. He shared a strong bond with Franklin D. Roosevelt, often traveling with him on presidential trips. He was a true companion to the president, and was always someone that could brighten his day after a long day making big decisions.
Fala was a dog, and thus it is rather hard to get into his mind and figure out what was important to him. It is possible that his master was always in his best interest, as they were never separated, even so much as being buried together. Other pleasures in Fala's life probably involved eating, sleeping, playing games and just running around and having a good time. Dogs can tend to be simplistic creatures and Fala, despite his position of power as the First Dog, was most likely no exception.
Fala was President FDR's dog, and of course had his place as the First Dog in the White House for five years before FDR died of a stroke. He also had a section of a speech dedicated to him, where Roosevelt addressed the accusations that Republicans were making that Fala had been left behind on an Aleutian island, and Roosevelt had used billions of dollars in taxpayer money to send a battleship back to get him. Fala was essentially part of FDR's image, and even has a statue depicting his liking near the one of Roosevelt himself.
I first discovered Fala one Monday evening, somewhere between the hours of eight and nine when I was watching a program on TV about Presidential Dogs. Fala had a whole section dedicated to him, and I soon fell in love with the small, lovable dog (but had a problem getting his gender right for a little while). As I began doing research on him as a possible candidate for this project, I discovered that he actually played a substantial role in history, and I decided that he would make an incredible (and very different) subject for this project.
Fala was the inspiration for a part of one of Roosevelt's speeches; he also played a substantial role in history for the White House and army. In the war, American soldiers would ask one another for the name of the President's dog, expecting the name 'Fala', to safeguard against German infiltration. Fala was also an honorary private in the US Army for "'contributing' $1 to the war effort for every day of the year and setting an example for others on the home front." Fala also traveled with the President to many of his meetings in other places, locations including the Atlantic Charter Conference in Placentia Bay, Newfoundland (with the President and Prime Minister Winston Churchill of England), the Quebec Conferences, and many other places.
My relationship with Fala is an inspirational one. A dog is a great friend to have, and I often strive to be a good friend to other people, and I feel happy when I've helped other people. I want to be like Fala, in the sense that I can just always be there for someone when they need me, or just sit quietly (maybe not with my head on someone's lap) and let them talk to me, and I wouldn't be critical, I'd just sit there and listen, like a dog might do. I feel like I have a lot to learn about being a friend, and a dog like Fala would be able to teach me that sort of thing.


















Thunder-Plant
The rare Thunder-Plant, only found in one location on the entire planet, is a living creature who displays bravery, perseverance, and stalker-like traits. The object on his head, a semi-opaque cone with a black outline, is there in order to keep him from clawing at the stitches on his eye. But does he care? I say nay! He stands strong throughout having to wear the cone on his head! He continually takes on the challenges of life while wearing this semi-opaque cone with a black outline. He perseveres when he has to do the daily ordeals such as drink from his water bowl or walk around the house! And he still follows his one and only master, Delalle Atrash, everywhere she goes around the house! He is truly a being to look up to, with how strong his willpower is.
Thunder-Plant's life revolves around eating, walking around, laying around, and following Del around. He is a dog and enjoys the simple things in life, often longingly staring at the Atrash Family as they gather around the dinner table and eat their meal in the evening. He also enjoys Del's company, and will come down the stairs to greet her every day when she comes home, be it from a short trip or from a long day at work. Thunder-Plant also enjoys the company of other dogs, but not outside his own domain, where he is the king of the castle, as far as he's concerned.
Thunder-Plant is a natural example of the man (or woman's!) best friend 'dog stereotype'. He is a true companion, often coming into a room where a lonely person is and coming to keep him or her company. He is an example of, no matter how much bad a person or being does, they can always be forgiven if they are either adorable enough or do something to make up for it. It is also showing how you can be rewarded for a bad thing, be it through getting played with or simply knowing that you got that food out of the trash bin.
As a pet, Thunder-Plant has been in my life since I was a child of six or seven years. He has been in my life for a long time and is what you might call family, and is always someone who's there. It was recently observed when he was at the vet and Del and I came home from taking him there, and Frank was absent and Marc was at college, that the house was empty and there was no clacking of claws on the floor or jingling of collar tags indicating that Thunder-Plant was coming to say hello to his master(s). It is a sad state of affairs when you witness what will be when you no longer have a friendly face around the household, and naturally it is a lonely experience when he is not there to cuddle and love.
Thunder-Plant has inspired the family to train dogs better and make them more obedient. He has also inspired outside visitors to play with him when they see him, because he is just so gosh darn adorable. Thunder-Plant is the type of dog who gets what he wants by staring at people and begging for it, and is ever so adorable while doing it. He was the inspiration for a painting of him and his brother, created by Nikita Atrash.
Thunder-Plant is a loved member of our family, because he is a dog and all dogs deserve to be loved. He is always around us, be it watching from outside or sneaking up on us and begging for food (although, his plant extension makes it hard for him to sneak up on people). He also makes for a fun time, bonking into everything as he tries to greet us around the house.















Lightning
Lightning represents the struggle between life and death; how pain is hard to deal with but at the same time it can be dealt with and how when you are in pain it feels like nothing matters anymore, but everyone surrounds you with love and care when you are. This is because Lightning was dying; he had a cancer in his leg that, despite the medicine he was taking, could not help him deal with the pain that he was feeling.
Lightning cared for those around him, namely his brother and his owners. As time went on, he was in so much pain that he tried to push people away, but to no avail, because of their perseverance. Time was cruel to him and eventually the cancer and pain got so bad that he felt as if he had nothing important to him anymore, and he wouldn't even get up to greet his owners when they returned from a place they had been to - so for his sake, they put him down so he wouldn't be in pain any longer.
Lightning is important to American culture because so many people struggle to fight illnesses that hurt them everyday, and sometimes they are in so much pain that nothing matters to them anymore. It is a battle that is hard to watch but yet so few people know about, and he represents the awareness of that battle that everyday people have to deal with throughout their lives.
Lightning was a pet, and a member of our family. He was the brother to the rare Thunder-Plant, the older of the two, and was often around us all in the way that only a dog could be. He fought valiantly against illness, and this was inspiring to me that, despite being a dog, he could deal with that sort of thing, even if it wasn't very well.
When I first found out about his cancer, Lightning inspired me to create a fictional 'memorial' character, if you will, named Lightning Atto (aka Atto). He also inspired the family, in a way, because it's strange to come into the house and to not see him around after him being a pet for 10 or so years. Lightning was brave, and he fought valiantly against his cancer, but unfortunately he could not hold out any longer and the family decided that it was time to put him down.
Lightning was a pet, a brother to Thunder-Plant, and a close held family member. He has a special place in my heart because, while my brother picked Thunder-Plant, I picked Lightning. Lightning was, in that sense, my dog, and it was hard to know that he was in so much pain and there was really nothing I could do. He was not only a pet, but also a friend, who could just sit quietly and listen to you if you had troubles that you wanted to talk about.