echo74

ok so the metaphor of killing a mockingbird represents a loss of innocence and for scout thats shown through her slowly becoming aware of racism and other issues of the world

right?

and i was thinking about that

and i was also thinking about the significance of the dog scene bc when i first read the book it didn't seem super relevant to me other than showing them that atticus could shoot?

and i was also thinking about how tim johnson (the dog's name) sounds suspiciously like tom robinson (the guy that gets put on trial)

both of them die in the end

bc of something that, inevitably, they had no control over

tom couldn't control the prejudices of the jury

tim couldn't control the fact that he got rabies

in the same way that tim was forced to have rabies

tom was forced to suffer extreme discrimination

and don't get me wrong i'm not against putting down rabid animals (which a few people were arguing with me abt)

i think you should put them down

but again going back to the metaphor/theme of to kill a mockingbird

in the book it says that tim (the dog) was owned by whoever from whatever farm but he was maycomb's pet

he was something everyone loved, something innocent

forced to suffer something horrible, forced to swallow something bitter

and eventually it becomes a shell of itself bc of the disease

and dies

he loses his innocence

a dog, a pet is something that's supposed to be innocent

and yet he became something scary

something dangerous

i was reading a webtoon the other day (i think it was space boy) and there was a quote that stood out to me that reminds me of this "fear paints ugly pictures of people"

and i think that's absolutely true

especially in tkam

think of boo radley

i wonder if you could also compare the dog with all the people who stood by even when it was obvious that tom was innocent

instead of standing up for what they knew was right

they sat and watched as an innocent man was put in jail for crimes he didn't commit

racism and prejudice took over their minds, so to speak, and made them a shell of their former selves

anyways this is all just to say i really liked the dog and i was really sad reading about it