THE DARK BROWN DOG // STEPHEN CRANE

This story tells the tale of a boy who finds a dark brown dog on his walk. The boy pats the dog for a while, and then decides to walk home but as he walks, he realises that the dog is following him. The dog continues to follow him, so the boy decides to hit him in order to send the message that he doesn’t want him to come home with him. Yet the dog keeps follows him. Eventually the boy brings the dog into his house, but when the boy’s father sees the dog he is not happy, despite the rest of the family agreeing to keep him. Over time, the boy and the dog develop a strong relationship, but when the boy isn’t looking the dog is violently abused. The dog is very distressed by being abused and while he is asleep he howls and moans because of his horrible nightmares. The only person who cares about him is the boy, who makes the dog very happy when he is around him. One night, the boy’s father comes home very drunk and begins to abuse the dog, until finally he throws him out the window to his death. The young boy rushes out of their home, distraught, and is found later seated next to the dog.

This story shows the dark themes that lay behind many American lives in the 1890’s, including violence, toughness and rampant abuse. Racism is explicitly explored through the metaphor of the dog for a foreigner or outsider that merely wanted to be accepted into American life. The use of the young boy and his feelings towards the dog represent the somewhat inclusive minority of people who accepted people of other races into America. The father and the rest of the family represent the majority of people in that time - people who treated foreigners’ existence as a joke or something that could be eradicated with abuse and extreme power. It is written in the style of naturalism - with detailed descriptions of the abuse the dog endures, "The dog, yelling in supreme astonishment and fear, writhed to his feet and ran for cover. The man kicked out with a ponderous foot.” These descriptions that are found throughout the text contribute to the writer’s total effect of horrific abuse on an individual who meant no harm. The writing is graphic, and this is effective as it fully reveals the extent to which racism and violence was rampant in America during this time. The setting of this story is significant as it shows New York City at the cusp of transition between agricultural society and the industrial revolution, particularly in the Bowery tenements that housed immigrants from eastern Europe and Ireland. It explores the extreme family dysfunction that was the norm for many American families due to the 19th century post civl war era where urban people were barely eking out an existence and living in rampant poverty.