A Dark Brown Dog

“A child was standing on a street-corner. He leaned with one shoulder against a high board-fence and swayed the other to and fro, the while kicking carelessly at the gravel.”

The opening scene frames the child as somewhat bored and disconnected from the world around him. His position on a street corner, paired with his swaying and careless kicking, suggests a potential for movement—in the context of the allegory, perhaps a potential for change.

“After a time, a little dark-brown dog came trotting with an intent air down the sidewalk. A short rope was dragging from his neck. Occasionally he trod upon the end of it and stumbled.”

The dog’s demeanor at the beginning—energetic, full of agency—is in stark contrast to the end of the story, when the dog is left as a lifeless corpse. The rope around his neck foreshadows the end of the story as well.

“The dog became more enthusiastic with each moment of the interview, until with his gleeful caperings he treated to overturn the child. Whereupon the child lifted his hand and struck the dog a blow upon the head.”

This moment illustrates the first interaction between the child and the dog, wherein the dog grows comfortable and lets his guard down, only to be treated with violence by the child. The consequence cemented here for the dog eliciting his own joy, particularly in a way that threatens the stability of the child, continues throughout the remainder of the story, building the theme of The Inescapability of Institutional Violence.