Tim Johnson Allegory

534 Words3 Pages
In chapter 10 of Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird, an allegory for racism, prejudice, and injustice is created through the mad dog Tim Johnson as he wanders through the Finches’ hometown of Maycomb. Scout’s narration of the mad dog’s appearance, his death by Atticus's gun, and his disposal after death all combine to shape him into a symbol of the injustice and racism prevalent in Scout’s childhood and during the Great Depression. Tim Johnson is a significant literary device in Lee’s narrative that conveys the story’s central themes of how inequality becomes embedded in a community despite its danger and what measures the community needs to take to eliminate it.

When every person in Maycomb gets sent indoors to avoid the mad dog, Scout observes