Stephen Crane, the author of A Dark Brown Dog, weaves a short story filled with vast amounts of imagery and symbolism. He creates an in-depth comprehensive description of an adopted dog, a young boy, and the growth of their relationship. Although the title suggests that the story will be about a dog, it does not reveal the cycle of abuse that plays out with the characters. Therefore, the seemingly innocent title of the story does not lets the audience know that there is an underlying theme within the story. This essay will examine the various literary devices that Crane used to bring his short story to life.
The plot of A Dark Brown Dog is about the unlikely relationship that a young boy creates with a stray dog, with a rope wrapped around its neck, who happens to wonder up to him. At first, the boy and dog were apprehensive about approaching each other but after some coaxing from the young boy the dog. The dog becomes overly excited with the young boy and almost knocks him over with his excitement. The young boy retaliates by striking the dog on the head to keep him from jumping on him. The dog rolls over in defeat while the boy continues to strike him. After the boy has his amusement, he goes home and much to his irritation the dog follows him. When they finally make it to the boy’s house, the boy decides to take him in as his pet. The boy’s mother is vehemently against him keeping a dog in the house, but his father made the decision that the dog could stay. The dog suffered abuse from the family, including the boy, and neglect as well. However, the dog continued to stay loyal to the boy despite his daily beatings. One day, the father came home drunk and laid his sight on the dog. He beat the dog a few times before throwing the dog out of the window of their apartment. The dog fell from the five-story building and landed on the roof a shed and rolled onto the pavement. Distraught and saddened, the boy ran out of the apartment to check on the dog. When his family finally caught up to him, they saw the boy sitting by the dead body of the dog.
Cranes uses a variety of figurative language to make the dog more than a simple stray that was wondering the streets. Through the usages of metaphors and similes, Cranes creates a personification and personality for the dog. Through many metaphors, Crane lets the audience know that the dog is desperately searching for a friend. An example of this is when Crane states, “the dog offered more prayers” and “the dog apologized and expressed regret”. These statements indicate that the dog knows what to do in order to appease the young boy. With many dogs, when they roll over and show their stomach that means that they are being submissive. Therefore, it is safe to assume that the “prayers” the dog was offering was him showing his stomach to the young boy to let him know that he is not a threat. The “dog apologized and expressed regret” is more than likely the dog whimpering and whining to let the boy know that he is sorry for his actions. Another literary device that Crane uses in this scene is simile on the dog as well. When the dog was following the boy home, Crane used the phrase, “slunk like an assassin” to give a distinct image of how the dog was following the boy. Upon initial reading, audiences will think that the dog could be out to attack the boy for hitting him. The word “assassin” brings to mind the image of being punished with death for a wrongdoing, however that was not the dog’s intentions. Another simile that is used on the dog is when Crane stated, “the dog drooped like a scorched plant”. This imagery brings to the mind a plant wilting as it has not been watered in a while. The vivid description is applied to the dog since he is slowly drooping to the floor underneath the scornful eye of the boy’s family. The number of characters in the story are low, but that does not take away from the major impact they have on the story.
The major characters of the story are the young boy and the dog, while the minor characters include the boy’s family and their neighbors. As mentioned above, Crane wrote the dog to have human characteristics and it shows in his actions. Aside from the dog’s coat color, the most important description that Crane gave the dog was to include that he was weak. It is unclear whether the dog is weak due to neglect and abuse or from wondering the streets for a long time. This weakness is what makes the dog roll over at any sign of abuse from the boy and his family. The dog’s weakness is what also fuels his desperation to have the young boy as his friend. The second major character is the young boy. There isn’t much description given about the young boy therefore readers have to infer what he looks like. At first, it is safe to predict that the child is standing outside and lonely due to not having any friends or siblings. However, when the dog appears the audience are given a quick glance of playfulness between the two before witnessing the brutal side of the child. The first hitting of the dog can lead the audience to think that the child was scared and did it out of protection, but the continuation showed that there was a darker side to his character. Later on, the audience get a glimpse of what the boy’s home life is like and what leads to him beating the dog. This introduces the minor characters who are the boy’s family. From the way the mother and father handle arguments, it is apparent that the child comes from an abusive home. His father is described as a drunk at one point while his mother does not have anything specific mentioned about her. The boy’s family show where he learned his abusive behavior toward the dog since they are described as chasing it, throwing things at it, or beating it. The neighbors serve as only witnesses to the abusive nature of the family that lives next to them. All the major characters are flat characters as their actions and demeanor do not change throughout the story. This leads to the external and internal conflict that the dog has to deal with on his own.
The submissive nature of the dog and the abusive nature of the family create two forms of conflict in the story. The first form of conflict appears when the boy and dog first meet each other. It is the dog’s internal conflict about itself. The dog is torn between trying to make the young boy its friend and apologizing for any wrongdoing it thinks it has gone. The second form of conflict is external between the family, mainly the father, and the dog. The readers see how the family is constantly abusing the dog but the father creates the main external conflict when he beats the dog and throws it out the window. Both conflicts come to an end when the dog dies. The tone of the story creates a depressing atmosphere despite the dog and young boy becoming “friends” at one point.
Through the use of many adjectives, Cranes creates a gloomy and dark theme throughout his story. An example of this is how he uses this adjectives and epithets when it comes to describing the dog. The family views the dog as “unimportant” and “disreputable dog” when the boy brings it home. The usage of these words show that even though the dog may be the boy’s only source of happiness, the dog will never be more than an annoyance to them. To the boy, the dog is his “ calling voice to the dog” which means that the boy is the only thing that can make the dog happy. Cranes uses another similar phrase, such as “Here the child came valiantly forth like a knight”, to let the readers know that the boy became the dog’s savior from his family’s abusive actions. The constant beatings in the story show that there is a theme to it rather than being about a boy and a dog.
The theme of the story is about abusive relationships and how the cycle can continue going. There are many symbolisms that offer evidence that Crane is talking about the effects and dangers of the continuous abuse on the victim. The rope around the dog’s neck suggest that at one point he belonged to someone else and was being tied up. Despite having previous ownership, the dog is still weak and small. The dog has escaped one abusive ownership only to be caught in another one. The dog has been damaged too much that even after the boy beating him, he is still hoping that the two of them can be friends. It can be argued that the boy is a victim as well since he comes from a household of a drunken father. The boy is only repeating what he knows onto the dog since that is what he learned from his family. Since the dog is so desperate to be accepted by someone, he put up with the constant abuse simply to be around the boy. Ultimately, the abuse grew worse and took the life of the dog. In many cases of a continuous abusive household, usually someone succumbs to it before being able to get help.
Cranes uses a variety of techniques to create his thought-provoking story. He creates a bond between the boy and the dog through their actions and unspoken words. The figurative language used throughout the stories makes a personification for the dog and lets the readers be able to connect with him more. The theme and tone of the story play off one another to create a gloomy atmosphere for the dog and young boy. Although the characters were few, they were able to still bring alive the internal and external struggles of the boy and his dog.
Works Cited:
Crane, Stephen. A Dark Brown Dog.
