The Child in "A Dark Brown Dog"

The short story "A Dark Brown Dog" is an allegory for Jim Crow Laws in
the South. It has various characters that each represent something during this
time period. It has a family, neighbors, a dad, a small child, and a small brown
dog. The child can be described as a diverse character because his character

changes throughout. This paper will analyze him in this story.

Every character represents something, the dad could represent angry

southerners who hate freedmen. The Child could represent some southerners
who want to help the freedmen but sometimes accidentally hurt them. And the
small brown dog could represent the newly freed slaves. The child originally
despises the dog and tries to repel him away as much as possible. "Whereupon
the child lifted his hand and struck the dog a blow upon the head... When the
blow was repeated, together with an admonition in childish sentences,... The
child beat his pursuer with a small stick he had found." These quotes show

while the dog tried to follow the child, he would constantly try to make the dog
stop by beating him. The child clearly doesn't like the dog at the moment.
Later on the child starts to accept the dog. This could be a metaphor for
southern resentment towards freedmen.

After the dog continually followed the child and made a few gestures to
show he had worth, the child finally saw "him to be a valuable thing". The
child then accepts the dog into his home. All the while the dog is struggling,
but is also accepting of what is happening. When the family saw the dog they
examined him and and called him names but the child disagreed, "the child
went sturdily to the center of the floor, and, at the top of his voice,
championed the dog." The child is clearly proud of his dog, and likes it. The
dog was allowed to stay in the house however, and spent all his time with the
somewhat abusive child who "Sometimes, too, the child himself used to beat

the dog, although it is not known that he ever had what could be truly called a
just cause." This quote shows that the child would hurt the dog, but really
wouldn't know why. The child changes from a person of reluctance of the dog,
to someone who somewhat accepts him and likes him. All this could be a
metaphor for southern reluctance to eventually accept freedmen into society.

Eventually the dog and child become very close together, going on
expeditions and what not. However when they come back from one, the dad
was very drunk. The child instantly dived under the table, but the dog was
confused and went towards the dad. The dad starts to hurt the dog, "The head
of the family saw him at this moment. He gave a huge howl of joy, and
knocked the dog down with a heavy coffee-pot... The man kicked out with a
ponderous foot...A second blow of the coffee-pot laid him upon the floor."
While the dad is beating the dog, the child starts to cry violently and tried to
help the dog, but the dad ignored it. The dad then threw the dog straight out
the window and the dog died. "The child in the room far above burst into a
long, dirgelike cry, and toddled hastily out of the room. It took him a long time
to reach the alley,...When they came for him later, they found him seated by
the body of his dark-brown friend." The child instinctively ran towards the dog
to see if he was ok, only do find him dead. The child served as the dog's
protector in this story and tried to save him from his family, but in the end he
couldn't.

Throughout the story the child's character seems to develop, from

resenting the dog, to somewhat accepting it, to loving it. The child's character
is very apparent when he tried to protect his dog.