On the Road Inspired Dog Names

Jack Kerouac was known to be a lover of many things from women to poetry to the simplest words, some of which he even made up himself. But if there was something to be said about him, it’s that he had an appreciation for life: people, animals, and in short, anything with an essence of being, which was largely the reason his romanticized perspective was so well-received later in his career. But of course, he wasn’t the only one who had a fascination for the dynamics of relationships between all living things. 

Another such author, C.S. Lewis, who was a well-known novelist and poet best remembered for penning The Chronicles of Narnia and The Allegory of Love, was also largely influenced by similar forces, namely, a dog that shared most of Kerouac’s namesake: Jacksie. 

Lewis was known to be fond of dogs from an early age, so it’s no wonder that when he befriended Jacksie — which, whether the dog was his or just a neighborhood dog still seems to be up for debate — he adopted the dog’s name as his own, as he held particular distaste for his own given name: Clive Staples. As the anecdote goes, while on holiday with his family as a child, Lewis pointed to himself and stated “He is Jacksie”, wholly intent on assuming the name for life, working for him on two levels by discarding his own Christian name and honoring a dog he held dear simultaneously — unfortunately, the original Jacksie didn’t live long, as he was run over by a car around the same time period. It is said that he was actually so committed to keeping his self-appointed name, that he refused to answer when his parents called for him when using the name Clive. 

But the original Jacksie wasn’t the only canine to have influence over Lewis. As thoroughly noted by Pastor Bruce Johnson, a member of the Arizona chapter of the C.S. Lewis Society, in his piece titled All My Dogs Before Me, Lewis actually had eight different dogs throughout his lifetime, each that held a special place in both his heart and his work. Outside of Jacksie, there was Tim, an Irish Terrier written about in Lewis’ Surprised by Joy, Pat, who was mentioned in Lewis’ personal diary as the one who ate half of a volume of Plato he was transcribing, Mr. Papworth, who often accompanied Lewis and his wife on holiday, as well as Troddles, Bruce, Susie, and Ricky, all of whom were mentioned by Lewis and/or his brother in their diaries over the years, many of which left little wonder as to why Lewis was so fascinated with animals.