Analyse af 'The Baddest Dog in Harlem'

Imagine the idea of being the next innocent victim of a shooting that is happening in your city, or the idea of the uncertainty around you where racism is occurring. Racism is precisely one of the themes in the short story "the baddest dog in Harlem". Other themes include discrimination and brutality.

The short story "The Baddest Dog in Harlem" written by American writer Walter Dean Myers, takes place in the city, Harlem, located in the northern part of New York City. In the city, Harlem lies Big Joe's place, where some men discuss who the best boxer is. “We were all sitting on the rail outside of Big Joe's place, trying to figure out which was the best fighter of all time” (p. 1, ll. 1-2). One of the men is the first-person narrator which give the readers a special insight into the story. Two police cars approach and the men are confronted with questions from the policemen. “One of the cops came over to us. “How long you guys have been here?” (P. 2, l. 34). A question that was supposed to give the armed police officer an answer, about a crazy dude up in the building who intends to shoot. The shooting first begins when one of the officers slides into a dog shit and his gun goes off accidentally. This results in mass shootings against a window up in the building belonging to a woman, Mary. Mary gets furious and the police grab Mary's arm, as well as the narrator, and walks up to the apartment. No sight of the suspect, but the sight of a dead innocent dog and a dead little boy. Out on the street, they only get the answer that a dog was shot, but not an innocent boy.