Despite the suggestions of his family, the farmer had too much compassion in his heart to hurt another living being. The family "suggested that her neck be broken by his strong handsbut he would not do ithe fashioned a small box and lined it with woolen remnants" (MacLeod, As Birds Bring Forth the Sun,172). The fact that he treats an animal so well makes his character the perfect depiction of a human that always has good intentions. Later on in the text, the author surprises the readers, and shows that karma can be altered, when [the cu mor glas' six puppies mistook the greeting of their mother to the farmer for an attack and they brutally tore apart the farmer, in the presence of his two teenage sons] (MacLeod, As Birds Bring Forth the Sun, 174). This incident made the town question the laws of karma; the fate of the farmer is a dramatic irony because the characters did not fully understand why the farmer had died, they misunderstood the whole situation.
A superstition is a very powerful force that fuels the belief of karma. The progression of the story and development of the characters prove that fact. [The farmer helped the grey dog (cu mor glas) look for a suitable mate, and even placed them in the mating position. He also went the extra mile by holding the male's penis in the right place] (MacLeod, As Birds Bring Forth the Sun, 172-73). The farmer keeps amazing readers when he keeps developing into a much more selfless, doing more challenging deeds for the dog as the story progresses. The author uses naturalism, the characters live an ordinary lifestyle, and he does not work to a particular ending. In this text the characters develop based on the pressures that life throws at them, i.e. the decisions they make in the future are as a result of the death of the farmer, which makes it the climax. The superstitious beliefs of the grey dog had a long lasting negative effect on the whole town and generations after.