The short story of A Dark Brown Dog begins even before the first word is read on the page. Its ingenious and creative title brings to mind an image of what the story will be focused on, a dark brown dog who represents a man who has recently be freed from the chains of slavery. Stephen Crane writes a comprehensive description of this little dog and its experience of being taken in by a little boy. The amount of symbolism used throughout this essay is staggering, and is the main literary element used in this piece of work. Written in 1890, this story represents the period of time that came shortly before. The dog, the boy, and the father all act as important symbols in this classic retelling of the reconstruction period know as Jim Crow. Jim Crow was the period of time in the United States after the Civil War. Slaves had been emancipated, and equality was supposedly underway. Unfortunately that was not the truth of what really went on in the United States. Many blacks were either still kept as slaves, or subjugated into a serf like state. The dark brown dog, which the story derives its title from, enters the story and takes on the role of a former slave. He is seen in the beginning as walking down the road, tripping over the long piece of rope tied around his neck. This piece of rope is symbolic of the former slavery which he just became free of. However, it is impossible to do anything with that freedom because now the dog has nowhere to live; the dog is forced to walk along the road dejected with no means of protecting or caring for itself. The fact that the dog is stumbling shows that it does not know what to make of its newfound freedom, and is awkward in this new state of being. On the opposite end of the street sat a little boy. The boy represents the new generation of people in the Southern United States. The dog and the