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Literary Analysis of A Dark Brown Dog

Stephen Crane (1871-1900)
Introduction to Author :
 Stephen Crane (1871–1900) was an American novelist, short story
writer, poet and journalist. Prolific throughout his short life, he wrote
notable works in the Realist tradition as well as early examples of
American Naturalism and Impressionism.
 Crane's first novel was the tale Maggie: A Girl of the Streets, which
critics generally consider the first work of American literary
Naturalism.
 He is recognized by modern critics as one of the most innovative
writers of his generation.Crane had published several articles by the
age of 16.
 Stephen Crane vehemently rejected sentimentality, asserting that "a
story should be logical in its action and faithful to character. Truth
to life itself was the only test, the greatest artists were the simplest,
and simple because they were true."
 Stephen Crane's fiction is typically categorized as representative of
Naturalism, Realism, Impressionism or a mixture of the three.
 Stylistically, Crane's writing is characterized by vivid intensity,
distinctive dialects, and irony.

 Common themes involve fear, spiritual crises and social isolation.

 Extreme isolation from society and community is also apparent in
Crane's work.
 Similar to other Naturalistic works, Crane scrutinizes the position of
man, who has been isolated not only from society, but also from God
and nature.
 His writing made a deep impression on 20th century writers, most
prominent among them Ernest Hemingway, and is thought to have
inspired the Modernists and the Imagists.
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Introduction to Short Story :

 Stephen Crane’s “A Dark-Brown Dog” is a tragic story, published in
Cosmopolitan in March 1901, depicting the cycle of abuse, and the
impact it has on those involved. A young boy, not even old enough to
walk properly, finds a homeless dog, desperate for love, and brings
him into his home. What is frightening about Crane’s take on this
typical relationship, a boy and his dog, are the parallels between the
young boy’s treatment of the dog and his abusive, alcoholic father’s
treatment of those around him.
 The time period after the Civil War is known as Jim Crow, during this
time equality was on the rise and slaves had been liberated. However,
that was not all that was occurring in the Unites States, many of the
blacks were kept as slaves. The dark brown dog enters the story,
symbolizing a former slave. The little brown dog is introduced with a
rope around his neck, symbolizing the former slavery he had recently
been freed of.
 Realism and symbolism are two pieces of Stephen Crane's writing
technique. Realism was used by Stephen Crane to expose social
problems.
In A Dark Brown Dog he tells the story about a relation between a
child and a dog to show us the topic of violence. We all know about
people who are violent, especially if they are drunk, as the father of
the boy in this story. At first, the dog is a victim of the boy (it is loyal to
the boy, thought he treats it badly). Probably the child reflects his
father's behavior towards him in his own behavior towards the dog.

 The story is based on the events after the Jim Crow, a civil war, era. In
this era, white people mistreated the slaves who were black people.

 This short story is not just about a dog; it also serves as an allegory. An
allegory is a literary device in which a specific character, object, place,
situation, or setting represents something different than what is
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literally described. It is used to deliver a broader message about real-

world issues and events. This story is symbolic fiction in which the
actual events and characters are allegorical references to historical
events and convey social criticism by the author.

 "A Dark-Brown Dog" can be understood as an allegory for the

precarious situation of freed African Americans in the Jim Crow South
after the American Civil War (1861-1865). In 1863, the Lincoln
administration issued the Emancipation Declaration granting freedom
to slaves in the Confederate Southern States. However, decades after
the Civil War, African Americans still remained in serf-like conditions,
beholden to employers and landowners who preyed upon their
vulnerable social position and lack of financial resources.
 African Americans were often targeted and subjected to violence by
both public and legal authorities, and through the Jim Crow laws and
the doctrine of 'separate, but equal', they were effectively stripped of
their newly won voting rights.

 The main themes in “A Dark Brown Dog” are subjugation and

submission, complicity, and power imbalance. Subjugation and
submission: Having once been owned, the dog can never be truly free,
and its new owners mistreat it in spite of its submissive behavior and
constant forgiveness.

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Analysis :
The People Trudge On
The short story of A Dark Brown Dog begins even before the first word
is read on the page. Its ingenious and creative title brings to mind an image
of what the story will be focused on, a dark brown dog who represents a man
who has recently be freed from the chains of slavery. Stephen Crane writes a
comprehensive description of this little dog and its experience of being taken
in by a little boy. The amount of symbolism used throughout this essay is
staggering, and is the main literary element used in this piece of work.
Written in 1890, this story represents the period of time that came shortly
before. The dog, the boy, and the father all act as important symbols in
this classic retelling of the reconstruction period know as Jim Crow.

Jim Crow was the period of time in the United States after the
Civil War. Slaves had been emancipated, and equality was supposedly
underway. Unfortunately that was not the truth of what really went on in
the United States. Many blacks were either still kept as slaves, or subjugated
into a serf like state. The dark brown dog, which the story derives its title
from, enters the story and takes on the role of a former slave. He is seen in
the beginning as walking down the road, tripping over the long piece of rope
tied around his neck. This piece of rope is symbolic of the former slavery
which he just became free of. However, it is impossible to do anything with
that freedom because now the dog has nowhere to live; the dog is forced to
walk along the road dejected with no means of protecting or caring for itself.
The fact that the dog is stumbling shows that it does not know what to make
of its newfound freedom, and is awkward in this new state of being.

On the opposite end of the street sat a little boy. The boy
represents the new generation of people in the Southern United States.
The dog and the child regarded each other with curiosity, as two strangers
from different worlds often do. The little dog makes advances towards the
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boy, and they start to play with each other. Unfortunately the dog becomes
too excited, so the boy has to put the dog in its proper place by beating it.
This is what people do to dogs after all, and during the period of time this
was written a black person was almost equivalent to a dog. The event
represents that even though the chains of slavery are gone the mentality
of slavery remains. As the boy beats the dog for getting too excited, the
dog rolls onto its back and raises its paws into the air. Almost as if the dark
coloured dog was praying. This generates an enthusiastic response from
the boy, and he keeps tapping the dog to make sure that it holds this
position of worship. The dog worships a new master who will dominate its
life. The boy leaves, and like an ever obedient slave the dog follows. As they
walk home together the dog is being constantly beat by the boy, but this is
what the dark skinned one expects so nothing is changed.

When they reach the house the boy has to drag the fitful dog up the stairs.
The brown dog knows that if he enters there bad things will happen. Yet
despite this struggle the boy wins, for he is more determined that the
outcome be to his liking. This represents the strong distinctions between
blacks and whites; for once one has been downtrodden for his entire life he
has no knowledge of how to fight back. Quickly an argument breaks out
among the family as to whether or not they keep the dog or throw it out.
This debate was common among households in the South as the people tried
to come up with ways to continue living their lives, all the while subjugating
the black race. The father decides to keep the dog, in order to make his wife
irate. The father represents the South and the Jim Crow Laws, while the
wife represents the North and the United States Federal Governments
Laws. It is clear by the progression of the story who wins out in the end, for
the wife is never heard from again.

The boy and the dog begin to bond, as master and servant often do. The boy
protects the dog from being beaten and hurt by the father, but in turn still
beats the dog. The dog accepts these beatings from the child, because the
child is the one he is faithful to. When the father fails to feed the dog the
child attempts to fetch some food for his companion. This shows the
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reader that the hatred of black people is something which is taught, not
innate. They go on walks together, and bond very well. Sometimes the boy
will lead the way on their excursions, and at other times the small dog leads.
Exploring new ideas together shows the reader that new doors were opened
up by the fact that slavery was ended in the United States. Yet despite these
excursions that did not rule out the fact that Jim Crow laws were still in
effect. This is why the dog keeps looking over his shoulder, to make sure he
is still following the boy’s path even though he is leading. The boy is the
one who decides which roads they shall follow. This is because white
people still were the ones who maintained all the power, if the blacks were
to stray too far from their place then they might be endanger of rocking
the boat too hard. They did not want to upset those who had the power
over them.

Things are looking pretty good for the dog, as he and the boy become closer
to each other. It is unfortunate to note though, that the new generations are
not the ones that have the power.

One night the father comes home in a drunken rage, and he is not going to
play nicely with anyone who gets in his way.

The South is suffering, and Jim Crow is not being enforced harshly enough.
Blacks are becoming close to the equals of whites. The child, quick to sense
his father’s anger, quickly dives under the table. The poor black dog was not
so lucky. The father takes the dog by the leg, swings it around a few times,
and chucks the animal out through the window. The dog crashes five
stories down and never gets up again. This act is supposed to resemble
lynching, and lynching was the life blood which enforced Jim Crow Laws.
After all, what could the poor wife and child do to save the carcass? Fight
back against the one who provided for them? No, they had to accept the
way of the world and let life go on.

This dramatic death ends Stephen Crane’s masterful short story. From
beginning to end, it is richly detailed with symbolic messages of the time he
lived through in the United States.
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This story derives its worth from its parallelism to history, and the message
it delivers to the audience. Though this terrible occurrence of slavery
may never happen again in the United States it is still good to learn from
the mistakes of the past, and to not repeat them. Symbolism gives the
reader a door to the past, and the characters of this story are the reader’s
outlet to the terrible world of Jim Crow.