Mad Dog Quotes

In Harper Lee’s ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’, the mad dog is used as a reflection of many different struggles faced by specific characters as well as society as a whole.

Foremost, the dog represents everything Atticus is facing in the novel. He has internal struggles, like many main characters, such as having to choose between right and wrong as well as fighting more physical things such as the jury. This leads into the next point: the dog represents discrimination and hatred itself in the novel. Where it does represent the mob and jury who have racist views, this point is to say that the dog represents not racist people but racism as a societal viewpoint. Overall, Harper Lee writes in the mad dog to give readers a simpler perspective of the very

One thing Atticus is fighting against are the citizens of Maycomb who do not share or wish to tolerate his attitude towards the issue of Tom Robinson. Atticus is exposed to many demeaning comments from the people around him. The mob, along with the jury, provide two obstacles for Atticus, both driven by hatred. The mad dog is a physical representation of this hatred just as the mob and jury are. After the mobbing, Scout compares the two events, saying “I was very tired, and was drifting into sleep when the memory of Atticus calmly folding his newspaper and pushing back his hat became Atticus standing in the middle of an empty waiting street, pushing up his glasses. The full meaning of the night’s events hit me and I began crying.” (Lee, 208). The mad dog poses a threat to Atticus and those he cares about, so he is forced to take action and shoot the dog; when approached by both the dog and the other aforementioned impediments, Atticus continues on with a calm manner to fight for and do what is right. A more moralistic hardship that Atticus faces is an inner struggle; he, as told by other characters, has undergone a change in personality and morals and throughout the book, restrains this side of his personality to protect himself and those he loves. After the ‘mad-dog’ incident, Atticus’ neighbours reminisce about Atticus’ days of being ‘One-shot Finch’.

Scout and Jem run to Calpurnia as soon as they spot the mad dog because of the common knowledge that a mad dog is dangerous. Without being dealt with, it could cause significant damage and is very harmful because its actions are blind- the dog has no control. This can be used to mirror the madness that is spread across America at the time of this novel: racism. When at the court for Tom Robinson’s trial, Scout, comparing the earlier events of the shooting to the jury’s decision, is also comparing the dog to racism. The quote “I saw something only a lawyer’s child could be expected to see, could be expected to watch for, and it was like watching Atticus walk into the street, raise a rifle to his shoulder and pull the trigger, but watching all the time knowing the gun was empty” (Lee, 282) refers to the scene in the court as well as the mad dog in the sense that Atticus is defenseless against both the dog and the mindset of the jury, stubborn as he may be. Therefore, this is to say that the rabid dog symbolizes the uncontrollability and malefic manner of a close-minded mentality once set into the minds of a large group of people- in this case it is racism in Maycomb- can be dangerous and lead to destruction. As a result of the the dog representing racism, the shooting of the dog shows that Atticus must be the one to vanquish and defeat racism in Maycomb. After the shooting, Miss. Maudie tells the children, “I think