[2] The book consists of seven stories, including one with the same title as the book: "Nós Matámos o Cão-Tinhoso" [We Killed Mangy Dog], "Papa, Cobra, Eu" [Dad, Snake, and Me], "As Mãos dos Pretos" [The Hands of Blacks], "Inventário de Móveis e Jacentes" [Inventory of Furniture and Effects], "A Velhota" [The Old Woman], "Nhinguitimo," and "Dina" [Lunchtime].
[3] The famous Portuguese-Mozambican architect Pancho Guedes organized the publication of the Mozambique first edition, and commissioned the cover by Mozambican artist Bertina Lopes.
[10] Nós Matámos o Cão Tinhoso won first place in the international literary contest of The Classic magazine in South Africa in 1965.
In Lusophone Studies 2, a volume in a series published by University of Bristol, Mark Sabine analyzes the aspects of gender, race, and violence found in Honwana's short stories.
[17] According to Sabine, "Focusing almost exclusively on male protagonists and their humiliation and disenfranchisement, Honwana depicts colonial rule as the literal emasculation of Africa" (24).
As one critic said, "La simplicité du style - adapté au point de vue d'un enfant - se combine à la richesse de différents niveaux d'interprétation" (the simplicity of the style - adapted to a child's point of view - combines with the richness of different levels of interpretation).
Ginho is the victim of both racial and gendered discrimination when in the novel Quim and Gulamo call him "maricas" (sissy) and "Preto de merda" (you black shit) for not being able to kill Mangy Dog.
[17] According to Pires Laranjeira, citing an interpretation (by Inocência Mata), Mangy Dog represents a decadent colonial system that is in need of being destroyed in order to make way for a new pure society, free of discrimination and racism.
But, according to Niyi Afolabi, the mangy dog's blue eyes can simultaneously point to the black colonial subject and the European colonizer.
Because "Ginho lacked a role model who stresses the ideals of courage, leadership, compassion, and the dedication of physical strength," as a result, "The aggressive effacement of the figure of the black patriarch not only necessitates the valorization of violence as 'manly', but also marginalizes the values which Honwana ascribes to an indigenous paradigm of masculinity: bravery, endurance, dignity and deference to elders" (25).