In allegorical sense what does the mad dog represent in "To Kill a Mockingbird"?
I cannot understand this particular moment in the movie. What does it represent for the story and how is it connected to the storyline? It appears to me that it's outside of context. Maybe I missed something or, due to my inability to understand English, this particular Atticus' action looks random. According to shmook the mad dog is symbol of injustice. How? Why?
Best Answer
The mad dog is a metaphor for the madness within society. The instilled racism which forms much of the common narrative is released at this point.
Atticus is typically seen as a sensible man the way he tells his children to shoot tins rather than birds etc.
Upon killing the mad dog the "injustice" that you are referring to reflects the same treatments of black people.
The injustice is how quickly the dog was executed by Atticus and thus more widely how quickly Maycombe as a whole were to blame Tom Robinson for the rape of a white woman just because he is black.
So the dog is both a comment of wider society but also the inner turmoil of Atticus that leads him to side with Tom.
As a side note its often been cinematical symbolic of black people through the use of Animal symbols. King Kong represented Black people coming to America to steal the white woman.
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What does Mad dog represent in To Kill a Mockingbird?
Lee's intended symbolism is obvious: the mad dog represents institutional racism that has unfairly accused a handicapped black man of raping a white woman. After killing the dog, Finch warns his young son, Jem: \u201cDon't you go near that dog, you understand? Don't go near him, he's just as dangerous dead as alive.\u201dWhat does the Mad dog represent in Chapter 10 of To Kill a Mockingbird?
The mad dog symbolizes racism. Like the dog, racism is just as dangerous dead as alive. No matter what Atticis accomplishes in Tom Robinson's trial, racism is still a danger to the community.What does Tim Johnson The Mad dog symbolize?
One leading symbol in the book To Kill a Mockingbird is the mad dog, Tim Johnson. He represents the once-friendly, but now dangerous and mad town of Maycomb. It transformed when the \u201crape\u201d of Mayella Ewell, a poor white woman, by the black man known as Tom Robinson.What does the rabid dog symbolism?
In a larger symbolic sense, the dog, because it has rabies, is a dangerous threat to the community. In shooting the dog, then, Atticus is trying to protect the community from its most dangerous elements.Racism in To Kill A Mockingbird | Antiracist Media Literacy Analysis
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Answer 2
I don't know if I agree with the symbolism answer above. Atticus has told Scout that fighting (physical violence) is wrong. He is also a lawyer who only uses persuasion in an attempt to free his client. However, the rabid dog is a direct threat to his family and society. He kills the dog to protect everyone. Scout then realizes that her father is not a coward.
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