Harper Lee uses the mad dog to symbolize many things. It shows how Atticus is the one that must do the unpleasant jobs. Just like how Atticus gets rid of Tim Johnson, he also had to deal with Tom Robinson. The dog is put as an outcast just as Tom Robinson is. The dog can also be shown as foreshadowing for Tom Robinson’s case. “I’d feel mighty comfortable if you did now.” This is Mr. Tate giving the unpleasant job to shoot the dog to Atticus. “Tim Johnson was not much more than a speck in the distance, but he was closer to us. He walked erratically, as if his right legs were shorter than his left legs. He reminded me of a car stuck in a sand bed.” In this quote it states that the dog is an outcast and is different than everyone else. This is