"When I opened the back door of the apartment building, I hesitated. You could hear McClusky's dog quietly whining, not loud enough to bring a beating, but like he couldn't quite muffle his awful loneliness" (51 West). This passage is important because I feel like it is talking about both the dog and Gretchen. They both have an abusive life at home which is what makes them so miserable, but the main difference between the two is that the dog only gets beaten when it whines as of Gretchen gets beaten for no reason at all. So it really shows both sides for the dog and Gretchen, even though it is directed toward the dog's life.