During these chapters Harper Lee begins to shift gears, subtly expanding the thematic world of To Kill a Mockingbird, while also introducing us to both new characters and new plot.
So as a purely sentimental reason, I love the mad dog scene since it reminds me of my dad - a studious, white collar guy (librarian) who had a bad back and couldn’t swing us around much as kids. But he’s an excellent marksman, though he says not as good as his grandfather.
My dad has always stayed true to his personal convictions, despite the personal cost, and he reminds me of Atticus in that way, too.
I loved the discussion about whether the rabid dog scene is necessary to the novel.
Reading ahead to the next section (skip this if you don't want a spoiler for the courtroom scenes), I notice that the narrator comes back to the rabid dog imagery in the courtroom scene:
"But I must have been reasonably awake or I would not have received the impression that was creeping into me. It was not unlike one I had last winter, and I shivered, though the night was hot. The feeling grew until the atmosphere in the courtroom was exactly the same as a cold February morning, when the mockingbirds were still, and the carpenters had stopped hammering on Miss Maudie’s new house, and every wood door in the neighborhood was shut as tight as the doors of the Radley Place. A deserted, waiting, empty street, and the courtroom was packed with people. A steaming summer night was no different from a winter morning. Mr. Heck Tate, who had entered the courtroom and was talking to Atticus, might have been wearing his high boots and lumber jacket. Atticus had stopped his tranquil journey and had put his foot onto the bottom rung of a chair; as he listened to what Mr. Tate was saying, he ran his hand slowly up and down his thigh. I expected Mr. Tate to say any minute, “Take him, Mr. Finch. . . .” "
This is a very subtle callback. It doesn't actually mention the dog or the gun but only evokes the place and time, the atmosphere. It's a resonance, an echo. It tells us a lot about how Scout and Jem are both processing what's happening in court. They both think that Atticus has won and that he's going to free Tom Robinson just like he put down the rabid dog with a single shot; but the reader, older and wiser than the children, know that there was no way he could win.
It creates a kind of chiasmus structure. In the dog scene they don't know what skill Atticus has and are surprised when he succeeds beyond their wildest expectations. In the courtroom scene, they think they know exactly what he can do and will be devastated when he fails despite all his skill.
If I were Harper Lee's editor I would not tell her to cut the rabid dog scene. I think she might be able to tell the story without it, but it wouldn't be as good. It's not just a one off set piece to add color and depth and character development. It's essential to the story of the children's moral awakening, not only to their only seeing Atticus as a more fully realized human being, but also to understanding both his successes and his failures, his strengths and his limitations. And it's essential to understanding the deep moral failings of their community.
It's an essential part of Atticus' three part lesson in courage. Scout and Jem think courage is facing down the rabid dog (the first lesson). But Atticus knows it didn't take real courage because he knew he could take the dog down. He's a crack shot and thus there was no real personal risk.
So Atticus sets Jem to reading to Mrs Dubose (the second lesson). This is what he says:
"I wanted you to see what real courage is, instead of getting the idea that courage is a man with a gun in his hand. It’s when you know you’re licked before you begin but you begin anyway and you see it through no matter what. You rarely win, but sometimes you do. Mrs. Dubose won, all ninety-eight pounds of her. According to her views, she died beholden to nothing and nobody. She was the bravest person I ever knew.”
Atticus's personal model for courage as he heads into the trial is Mrs Dubose: " It’s when you know you’re licked before you begin but you begin anyway and you see it through no matter what." Scout and Jem don't understand it yet, but this is exactly what he is doing when he sets out to defend Tom Robinson.
And that's why we need the callback to the dog scene in court: it draws the threads together and we see that contrast of Atticus' failure in court with his success at putting down the dog. So the third lesson in courage is watching Atticus imitate Mrs Dubose as he gives his best in court, argue as he's never argued before, even though he knows from the start that he will fail. And then watching him live through that failure and not being broken by it. How do you fully tell that story without the dog and the gun being a foil for Mrs Dubose?
Thanks. I'm just piggybacking on David and Heidi and Tim. I'd never have noticed the echo of the dog scene in the courtroom scene if I hadn't just listened to the podcast right before I read it.
I just had a funny experience! 😂 This is my first time reading TKAM (It’s incredible). I finished the reading for this segment, started listening to the podcast, did not at all understand the relevance of Tim’s story, and was like, “What dog…?” So I paused the podcast, went back to the book, and discovered that I’d skipped an entire chapter without noticing. How on earth did I manage that? 😂
What a fun turn of events when David asked about this chapter—does it add? Is it necessary? I just read half the book without it, and discovered the chapter is not at all necessary to enjoy, understand, and be engrossed in the novel. 😂 BUT now having read this story about Atticus and the rabid dog, I’m glad it’s in the book! I appreciated the character building that happened in this chapter: how the men and women of Maycomb respect Atticus, how he has a reputation and a past that we wouldn’t otherwise know about because the story is told from his child’s point of view; how Atticus is a reluctant hero. The chapter put flesh on Atticus’s comments about the case he has taken on: that he’d rather not carry this burden but that he can’t not. I’m seeing that Atticus’ moral character causes him to act against his values of (or desires for) quiet, comfort, and inconspicuousness, a bit like Frodo and the ring. The gun is thrust upon Atticus, and he’d rather not shoot the dog, but he can (skillfully to boot!) and he does. I’m expecting to see more of this in the coming court case. So I’m glad I read this chapter. I think I understand the characters of Maycomb better than I did before reading this chapter, and I resonate with Tim’s observation about having a solid foundation of characterization before the coming conflict! I don’t know what to expect in the coming chapters, but I do feel like I know who the citizens of Maycomb are, and I’m I excited to see the conflict play out in the lives of these people I’ve come to know and love!
I also love how the chapter ends: Jem declaring he’s going to be a gentleman like his father right before he destroys an elderly woman’s garden. A little bit like Peter’s bold claims before his temptation and betrayal and restoration.
Yes! My thought was that it (the dog episode) elevates Atticus's character, adding an element of physical prowess to his intellect and integrity. It does tell more about him, and I'm happy to read a favorable picture of a strong man when men are so much criticized nowadays for "toxic masculinity."
Really loving the discussion about this book. So here’s my two cents. I think there is another reason why the dog scene is important to the book. It is not an unknown dog. It is “Tim Johnson … the pet of Malcom.” It is a friend that turns into an enemy and foreshadows the upcoming scene. No spoiler - I won’t say more, but I think the scene is a very important part of the book.
Sandra, I was just popping in to make that comment, about the dog's name. The dog is a "he" throughout the scene, and a he with a first and last name. The dog could be Buddy or Jack or any other common pet name, but he's given a human name. I think that's significant, and I think it's why this scene is essential.
I loved the discussion about the rabid dog. I thought it showed that he had a life before children, and a life separate from them, which children always seem surprised by--the realization that parents have a personhood that is theirs alone. He has his battles, legal and personal, that he is fighting.
Same. And I live near Charlottesville, which he has adopted as home. And he writes the law like someone who learned it from television and not law school
As a simple reader, who has read this book since I was in junior high (or so), I love the scene with Atticus shooting the dog. I don't like all the symbolism stuff about it because I think it is as straight forward as Jem taking a step in seeing who his father really is. Just as all kids have those moments when they find their parents have layers they never knew, this begins to reveal those to Jem through both Atticus's actions and the admiration of the adults around him at the moment. It sets the foundation for building the fuller admiration and understanding that will follow.
Also, let's face it, a lot of this is clearly filtered through Harper Lee's experience as a Southerner. Rabid dogs were a thing. It is part of the Southern flavor of the town and book. If you want to couch it in those terms, it is part of the mythology of the South, just as your own stories revealed. Why not have it?
My mother who lives in north Georgia has killed rattlesnakes with a garden hoe, even as an elderly woman. Dealing with the dangers of wildlife in the rural South is not an unusual experience. Maybe that's why Tim's friend doesn't remember the racoon. It's normal.
So as a purely sentimental reason, I love the mad dog scene since it reminds me of my dad - a studious, white collar guy (librarian) who had a bad back and couldn’t swing us around much as kids. But he’s an excellent marksman, though he says not as good as his grandfather.
My dad has always stayed true to his personal convictions, despite the personal cost, and he reminds me of Atticus in that way, too.
The dog scene makes the book a better place.
See all of the smart reasons in the comments above. 👆 Plus…it’s not a sin to kill a rabid dog.
I loved the discussion about whether the rabid dog scene is necessary to the novel.
Reading ahead to the next section (skip this if you don't want a spoiler for the courtroom scenes), I notice that the narrator comes back to the rabid dog imagery in the courtroom scene:
"But I must have been reasonably awake or I would not have received the impression that was creeping into me. It was not unlike one I had last winter, and I shivered, though the night was hot. The feeling grew until the atmosphere in the courtroom was exactly the same as a cold February morning, when the mockingbirds were still, and the carpenters had stopped hammering on Miss Maudie’s new house, and every wood door in the neighborhood was shut as tight as the doors of the Radley Place. A deserted, waiting, empty street, and the courtroom was packed with people. A steaming summer night was no different from a winter morning. Mr. Heck Tate, who had entered the courtroom and was talking to Atticus, might have been wearing his high boots and lumber jacket. Atticus had stopped his tranquil journey and had put his foot onto the bottom rung of a chair; as he listened to what Mr. Tate was saying, he ran his hand slowly up and down his thigh. I expected Mr. Tate to say any minute, “Take him, Mr. Finch. . . .” "
This is a very subtle callback. It doesn't actually mention the dog or the gun but only evokes the place and time, the atmosphere. It's a resonance, an echo. It tells us a lot about how Scout and Jem are both processing what's happening in court. They both think that Atticus has won and that he's going to free Tom Robinson just like he put down the rabid dog with a single shot; but the reader, older and wiser than the children, know that there was no way he could win.
It creates a kind of chiasmus structure. In the dog scene they don't know what skill Atticus has and are surprised when he succeeds beyond their wildest expectations. In the courtroom scene, they think they know exactly what he can do and will be devastated when he fails despite all his skill.
If I were Harper Lee's editor I would not tell her to cut the rabid dog scene. I think she might be able to tell the story without it, but it wouldn't be as good. It's not just a one off set piece to add color and depth and character development. It's essential to the story of the children's moral awakening, not only to their only seeing Atticus as a more fully realized human being, but also to understanding both his successes and his failures, his strengths and his limitations. And it's essential to understanding the deep moral failings of their community.
It's an essential part of Atticus' three part lesson in courage. Scout and Jem think courage is facing down the rabid dog (the first lesson). But Atticus knows it didn't take real courage because he knew he could take the dog down. He's a crack shot and thus there was no real personal risk.
So Atticus sets Jem to reading to Mrs Dubose (the second lesson). This is what he says:
"I wanted you to see what real courage is, instead of getting the idea that courage is a man with a gun in his hand. It’s when you know you’re licked before you begin but you begin anyway and you see it through no matter what. You rarely win, but sometimes you do. Mrs. Dubose won, all ninety-eight pounds of her. According to her views, she died beholden to nothing and nobody. She was the bravest person I ever knew.”
Atticus's personal model for courage as he heads into the trial is Mrs Dubose: " It’s when you know you’re licked before you begin but you begin anyway and you see it through no matter what." Scout and Jem don't understand it yet, but this is exactly what he is doing when he sets out to defend Tom Robinson.
And that's why we need the callback to the dog scene in court: it draws the threads together and we see that contrast of Atticus' failure in court with his success at putting down the dog. So the third lesson in courage is watching Atticus imitate Mrs Dubose as he gives his best in court, argue as he's never argued before, even though he knows from the start that he will fail. And then watching him live through that failure and not being broken by it. How do you fully tell that story without the dog and the gun being a foil for Mrs Dubose?
Melanie’s dropping insight bombs and I am here. for. it. 👏🏻
Same!
Thanks. I'm just piggybacking on David and Heidi and Tim. I'd never have noticed the echo of the dog scene in the courtroom scene if I hadn't just listened to the podcast right before I read it.
Glad to know that possums can’t have rabies. I saw one toddle across the street the other morning and wondered about that.
I just had a funny experience! 😂 This is my first time reading TKAM (It’s incredible). I finished the reading for this segment, started listening to the podcast, did not at all understand the relevance of Tim’s story, and was like, “What dog…?” So I paused the podcast, went back to the book, and discovered that I’d skipped an entire chapter without noticing. How on earth did I manage that? 😂
What a fun turn of events when David asked about this chapter—does it add? Is it necessary? I just read half the book without it, and discovered the chapter is not at all necessary to enjoy, understand, and be engrossed in the novel. 😂 BUT now having read this story about Atticus and the rabid dog, I’m glad it’s in the book! I appreciated the character building that happened in this chapter: how the men and women of Maycomb respect Atticus, how he has a reputation and a past that we wouldn’t otherwise know about because the story is told from his child’s point of view; how Atticus is a reluctant hero. The chapter put flesh on Atticus’s comments about the case he has taken on: that he’d rather not carry this burden but that he can’t not. I’m seeing that Atticus’ moral character causes him to act against his values of (or desires for) quiet, comfort, and inconspicuousness, a bit like Frodo and the ring. The gun is thrust upon Atticus, and he’d rather not shoot the dog, but he can (skillfully to boot!) and he does. I’m expecting to see more of this in the coming court case. So I’m glad I read this chapter. I think I understand the characters of Maycomb better than I did before reading this chapter, and I resonate with Tim’s observation about having a solid foundation of characterization before the coming conflict! I don’t know what to expect in the coming chapters, but I do feel like I know who the citizens of Maycomb are, and I’m I excited to see the conflict play out in the lives of these people I’ve come to know and love!
I also love how the chapter ends: Jem declaring he’s going to be a gentleman like his father right before he destroys an elderly woman’s garden. A little bit like Peter’s bold claims before his temptation and betrayal and restoration.
Yes! My thought was that it (the dog episode) elevates Atticus's character, adding an element of physical prowess to his intellect and integrity. It does tell more about him, and I'm happy to read a favorable picture of a strong man when men are so much criticized nowadays for "toxic masculinity."
Really loving the discussion about this book. So here’s my two cents. I think there is another reason why the dog scene is important to the book. It is not an unknown dog. It is “Tim Johnson … the pet of Malcom.” It is a friend that turns into an enemy and foreshadows the upcoming scene. No spoiler - I won’t say more, but I think the scene is a very important part of the book.
Sandra, I was just popping in to make that comment, about the dog's name. The dog is a "he" throughout the scene, and a he with a first and last name. The dog could be Buddy or Jack or any other common pet name, but he's given a human name. I think that's significant, and I think it's why this scene is essential.
Tim, you did not disappoint with story time! I am however quite worried for your friend and look forward to close reads, an intervention 😂
I loved the discussion about the rabid dog. I thought it showed that he had a life before children, and a life separate from them, which children always seem surprised by--the realization that parents have a personhood that is theirs alone. He has his battles, legal and personal, that he is fighting.
John Grisham wrote a ripoff of the church scene in A Time to Kill. Harper Lee is much better at her craft
Sorry, that’s how I feel about John Grisham.
Same. And I live near Charlottesville, which he has adopted as home. And he writes the law like someone who learned it from television and not law school
Ewww
As a simple reader, who has read this book since I was in junior high (or so), I love the scene with Atticus shooting the dog. I don't like all the symbolism stuff about it because I think it is as straight forward as Jem taking a step in seeing who his father really is. Just as all kids have those moments when they find their parents have layers they never knew, this begins to reveal those to Jem through both Atticus's actions and the admiration of the adults around him at the moment. It sets the foundation for building the fuller admiration and understanding that will follow.
Also, let's face it, a lot of this is clearly filtered through Harper Lee's experience as a Southerner. Rabid dogs were a thing. It is part of the Southern flavor of the town and book. If you want to couch it in those terms, it is part of the mythology of the South, just as your own stories revealed. Why not have it?
As I said, I am a simple reader. ;-)
My mother who lives in north Georgia has killed rattlesnakes with a garden hoe, even as an elderly woman. Dealing with the dangers of wildlife in the rural South is not an unusual experience. Maybe that's why Tim's friend doesn't remember the racoon. It's normal.
You make me think of Rick Bragg's mother in The Best Cook in the World. She killed snakes by throwing rocks at them.