They have an atypical and unique type of love. Skeetah loves China more than anything else. He doesn't just love her, he's obsessed with her. The relationship between Skeetah and China can be best illustrated in the phrase "China is as white as the sand that will become a pearl, Skeetah black as an oyster, but they are one before these boys who do not know what means loving a dog like Skeetah does. (p 162) This is very contradictory to the description of Skeetah's personality in "those little firecrackers [you] get on the 4th of July that throw sparks all over the place" (p 73). Uses of the word firecrackers in this context can be interpreted as Skeetah being stiff and intense. But readers get to see Skeetah's compassionate side whenever he's in China. Skeetah is ready to do anything for China. The novel begins with the scene of Skeetah helping China give birth to her first litter of puppies: “Skeetah crouches even closer to help [China]. He lays his hands on him” (8). During the birth scene, the reader got to see the gentle, caring, and compassionate side of Skeetah's personality. Skeetah is of great concern to puppies. “Skeetah kneels behind China… [and] cleans the puppies” (9). Additionally, his love for China and puppies is so great that he is willing to steal from the nearby white family who he knows has the medicine he needs for the dying puppies. ). However, Skeetah's dogfights stir up conflicting feelings. But people who fight dogs usually do it not only for money, but also for honor and pride. Further proof of Skeetah's love for China is that China goes so far as to kill one of his puppies, but Skeetah still loves China unconditionally, even though he needs money to sell the puppy. puppy.