ANALYSIS SHORT STORY
A Dark-Brown Dog
by Stephen Crane
by Stephen Crane
Lecturer:
MUHAMMAD EDY TOYYIB,M.A
Created By:
Ahmad Nur Faiz (10320059)
ENGLISH LANGUAGE AND LETTERS
DEPARTEMENT
FACULTY OF HUMANITIES AND CULTURE
MAULANA MALIK IBRAHIM STATE
ISLAMICUNIVERSITY OF MALANG
BAB I
INTRODUCTION
A. Background
A short story is a work of fiction that is usually written in
prose, often in narrative format. A short story usually deals with a few
characters and often concentrates on the creation of the mood rather than the
plot.
The short story format tends to be more pointed than longer works
of fiction, such as novellas (in the 20th and 21st century sense) and novels.
Short story definitions based on length differ somewhat, even among
professional writers, in part because of the fragmentation of the medium into
genres. Since the short story format includes a wide range of genres and
styles, the actual length is determined by the individual author's preference
(or the story's actual needs in terms of creative trajectory or story arc) and
the submission guidelines relevant to the story's actual market. Guidelines
vary greatly among publishers.
In America a lot of talented writers 19an century
to the present, and among the literary work is already well known to the whole
world. One of the popular literature in America is the work of Stephen Crane
0.1871 to 1900, entitled "A Dark Brown Dog" which tells the story of
a boy who befriends a dog.
B.
Problem Formation
1.
What is the story of a dark brown dog?
2. How to analyze the story of a dark brown dog?
C. Purpose
As for the purpose of making this analysis to be
enjoyed by all generations to come and be beneficial to all readers. So
that all readers know about the existing literature in the world.
BAB II
DISCUSSION
A Dark-Brown Dog
by Stephen Crane
by Stephen Crane
Cosmopolitan 30 (Mar. 1901):
481-486.
A child was standing on a street-corner. He
leaned with one shoulder against a high board-fence and swayed the other to and
fro, the while kicking carelessly at the gravel.
Sunshine beat upon the cobbles, and a lazy
summer wind raised yellow dust which trailed in clouds down the avenue.
Clattering trucks moved with indistinctness through it. The child stood
dreamily gazing.
After a time, a little dark-brown dog came
trotting with an intent air down the sidewalk. A short rope was dragging from
his neck. Occasionally he trod upon the end of it and stumbled.
He stopped opposite the child, and the two
regarded each other. The dog hesitated for a moment, but presently he made some
little advances with his tail. The child put out his hand and called him. In an
apologetic manner the dog came close, and the two had an interchange of
friendly pattings and waggles. The dog became more enthusiastic with each
moment of the interview, until with his gleeful caperings he threatened to
overturn the child. Whereupon the child lifted his hand and struck the dog a
blow upon the head.
This thing seemed to overpower and astonish the
little dark-brown dog, and wounded him to the heart. He sank down in despair at
the child's feet. When the blow was repeated, together with an admonition in
childish sentences, he turned over upon his back, and held his paws in a
peculiar manner. At the same time with his ears and his eyes he offered a small
prayer to the child.
He looked so comical on his back, and holding
his paws peculiarly, that the child was greatly amused and gave him little taps
repeatedly, to keep him so. But the little dark-brown dog took this
chastisement in the most serious way, and no doubt considered that he had
committed some grave crime, for he wriggled contritely and showed his
repentance in every way that was in his power. He pleaded with the child and
petitioned him, and offered more prayers.
At last the child grew weary of this amusement
and turned toward home. The dog was praying at the time. He lay on his back and
turned his eyes upon the retreating form.
Presently he struggled to his feet and started
after the child. The latter wandered in a perfunctory way toward his home,
stopping at times to investigate various matters. During one of these pauses he
discovered the little dark-brown dog who was following him with the air of a
footpad.
The child beat his pursuer with a small stick
he had found. The dog lay down and prayed until the child had finished, and
resumed his journey. Then he scrambled erect and took up the pursuit again.
On the way to his home the child turned many
times and beat the dog, proclaiming with childish gestures that he held him in
contempt as an unimportant dog, with no value save for a moment. For being this
quality of animal the dog apologized and eloquently expressed regret, but he
continued stealthily to follow the child. His manner grew so very guilty that he
slunk like an assassin.
When the child reached his door-step, the dog
was industriously ambling a few yards in the rear. He became so agitated with
shame when he again confronted the child that he forgot the dragging rope. He
tripped upon it and fell forward.
The child sat down on the step and the two had
another interview. During it the dog greatly exerted himself to please the
child. He performed a few gambols with such abandon that the child suddenly saw
him to be a valuable thing. He made a swift, avaricious charge and seized the
rope.
He dragged his captive into a hall and up many
long stairways in a dark tenement. The dog made willing efforts, but he could
not hobble very skilfully up the stairs because he was very small and soft, and
at last the pace of the engrossed child grew so energetic that the dog became
panic-stricken. In his mind he was being dragged toward a grim unknown. His
eyes grew wild with the terror of it. He began to wiggle his head frantically
and to brace his legs.
The child redoubled his exertions. They had a
battle on the stairs. The child was victorious because he was completely
absorbed in his purpose, and because the dog was very small. He dragged his
acquirement to the door of his home, and finally with triumph across the threshold.
No one was in. The child sat down on the floor
and made overtures to the dog. These the dog instantly accepted. He beamed with
affection upon his new friend. In a short time they were firm and abiding
comrades.
When the child's family appeared, they made a
great row. The dog was examined and commented upon and called names. Scorn was
leveled at him from all eyes, so that he became much embarrassed and drooped
like a scorched plant. But the child went sturdily to the center of the floor,
and, at the top of his voice, championed the dog. It happened that he was
roaring protestations, with his arms clasped about the dog's neck, when the
father of the family came in from work.
The parent demanded to know what the blazes
they were making the kid howl for. It was explained in many words that the
infernal kid wanted to introduce a disreputable dog into the family.
A family council was held. On this depended the
dog's fate, but he in no way heeded, being busily engaged in chewing the end of
the child's dress.
The affair was quickly ended. The father of the
family, it appears, was in a particularly savage temper that evening, and when
he perceived that it would amaze and anger everybody if such a dog were allowed
to remain, he decided that it should be so. The child, crying softly, took his
friend off to a retired part of the room to hobnob with him, while the father
quelled a fierce rebellion of his wife. So it came to pass that the dog was a
member of the household.
He and the child were associated together at
all times save when the child slept. The child became a guardian and a friend.
If the large folk kicked the dog and threw things at him, the child made loud
and violent objections. Once when the child had run, protesting loudly, with
tears raining down his face and his arms outstretched, to protect his friend,
he had been struck in the head with a very large saucepan from the hand of his
father, enraged at some seeming lack of courtesy in the dog. Ever after, the
family were careful how they threw things at the dog. Moreover, the latter grew
very skilful in avoiding missiles and feet. In a small room containing a stove,
a table, a bureau and some chairs, he would display strategic ability of a high
order, dodging, feinting and scuttling about among the furniture. He could
force three or four people armed with brooms, sticks and handfuls of coal, to
use all their ingenuity to get in a blow. And even when they did, it was seldom
that they could do him a serious injury or leave any imprint.
But when the child was present, these scenes
did not occur. It came to be recognized that if the dog was molested, the child
would burst into sobs, and as the child, when started, was very riotous and
practically unquenchable, the dog had therein a safeguard.
However, the child could not always be near. At
night, when he was asleep, his dark-brown friend would raise from some black
corner a wild, wailful cry, a song of infinite lowliness and despair, that
would go shuddering and sobbing among the buildings of the block and cause
people to swear. At these times the singer would often be chased all over the
kitchen and hit with a great variety of articles.
Sometimes, too, the child himself used to beat
the dog, although it is not known that he ever had what could be truly called a
just cause. The dog always accepted these thrashings with an air of admitted
guilt. He was too much of a dog to try to look to be a martyr or to plot
revenge. He received the blows with deep humility, and furthermore he forgave
his friend the moment the child had finished, and was ready to caress the
child's hand with his little red tongue.
When misfortune came upon the child, and his
troubles overwhelmed him, he would often crawl under the table and lay his
small distressed head on the dog's back. The dog was ever sympathetic. It is
not to be supposed that at such times he took occasion to refer to the unjust
beatings his friend, when provoked, had administered to him.
He did not achieve any notable degree of
intimacy with the other members of the family. He had no confidence in them,
and the fear that he would express at their casual approach often exasperated
them exceedingly. They used to gain a certain satisfaction in underfeeding him,
but finally his friend the child grew to watch the matter with some care, and
when he forgot it, the dog was often successful in secret for himself.
So the dog prospered. He developed a large
bark, which came wondrously from such a small rug of a dog. He ceased to howl
persistently at night. Sometimes, indeed, in his sleep, he would utter little
yells, as from pain, but that occurred, no doubt, when in his dreams he
encountered huge flaming dogs who threatened him direfully.
His devotion to the child grew until it was a
sublime thing. He wagged at his approach; he sank down in despair at his
departure. He could detect the sound of the child's step among all the noises
of the neighborhood. It was like a calling voice to him.
The scene of their companionship was a kingdom
governed by this terrible potentate, the child; but neither criticism nor
rebellion ever lived for an instant in the heart of the one subject. Down in
the mystic, hidden fields of his little dog-soul bloomed flowers of love and
fidelity and perfect faith.
The child was in the habit of going on many
expeditions to observe strange things in the vicinity. On these occasions his
friend usually jogged aimfully along behind. Perhaps, though, he went ahead.
This necessitated his turning around every quarter-minute to make sure the
child was coming. He was filled with a large idea of the importance of these
journeys. He would carry himself with such an air! He was proud to be the
retainer of so great a monarch.
One day, however, the father of the family got
quite exceptionally drunk. He came home and held carnival with the cooking
utensils, the furniture and his wife. He was in the midst of this recreation
when the child, followed by the dark-brown dog, entered the room. They were
returning from their voyages.
The child's practised eye instantly noted his
father's state. He dived under the table, where experience had taught him was a
rather safe place. The dog, lacking skill in such matters, was, of course,
unaware of the true condition of affairs. He looked with interested eyes at his
friend's sudden dive. He interpreted it to mean: Joyous gambol. He started to
patter across the floor to join him. He was the picture of a little dark-brown
dog en route to a friend.
The head of the family saw him at this moment.
He gave a huge howl of joy, and knocked the dog down with a heavy coffee-pot.
The dog, yelling in supreme astonishment and fear, writhed to his feet and ran
for cover. The man kicked out with a ponderous foot. It caused the dog to
swerve as if caught in a tide. A second blow of the coffee-pot laid him upon
the floor.
Here the child, uttering loud cries, came
valiantly forth like a knight. The father of the family paid no attention to
these calls of the child, but advanced with glee upon the dog. Upon being
knocked down twice in swift succession, the latter apparently gave up all hope
of escape. He rolled over on his back and held his paws in a peculiar manner.
At the same time with his eyes and his ears he offered up a small prayer.
But the father was in a mood for having fun,
and it occurred to him that it would be a fine thing to throw the dog out of
the window. So he reached down and grabbing the animal by a leg, lifted him,
squirming, up. He swung him two or three times hilariously about his head, and
then flung him with great accuracy through the window.
The soaring dog created a surprise in the
block. A woman watering plants in an opposite window gave an involuntary shout
and dropped a flower-pot. A man in another window leaned perilously out to
watch the flight of the dog. A woman, who had been hanging out clothes in a
yard, began to caper wildly. Her mouth was filled with clothes-pins, but her
arms gave vent to a sort of exclamation. In appearance she was like a gagged
prisoner. Children ran whooping.
The dark-brown body crashed in a heap on the
roof of a shed five stories below. From thence it rolled to the pavement of an
alleyway.
The child in the room far above burst into a
long, dirgelike cry, and toddled hastily out of the room. It took him a long
time to reach the alley, because his size compelled him to go downstairs
backward, one step at a time, and holding with both hands to the step above.
When they came for him later, they found him
seated by the body of his dark-brown friend.
1.
Character
a. The boy
- Physical Appearance
-
- Characteristic
-
He is a bad figure, he likes to hit the dog get hurt.
-
He is a good figure, he has been treating the wounded dog and take it as a pet.
-
He is a stubborn person, when he was forbidden by his father to get a dog he still insisted on getting a dog.
b.
The Dog
- Physical Appearance
-
A little brown
dark dog
- Characteristic
-
It is the figure of a patient, when a
dog was hit by a child.
-
It is willing, like the one who loved its.
c.
Father
- Physical Appearance
-
- Characteristic
-
He is a figure that easily swayed,
-
He
is drunker
2.
Setting
-
In the street
-
House
3.
Plot
a.
Beginning
When child was outside and leaned against the edge of the sidewalk to look
at the road and suddenly there is a dark brown dog near his feet. The boy was stretched out his hand and the little dog
came. Dog appears to have a rope tied around his neck. When dog arrived, the boy stroked his back and the dog was happy, after that
the boy drew back his hand and suddenly hitting a dog on the head. Dog fell around the legs of the child and the
child had hit her feel guilty. The boy hit him for no apparent reason. The boy went back home and beat the dog to stand up immediately hurt the
dog. The boy on his way home and the dog followed
him from behind, when he got his front door, the boy let the dog go. They sit on the floor, the boy's dark brown dog treat wounds.
b.
Climax
The little boy
finally accept the dog as a pet and take it as a valuable thing. They are very happy, but it was not long before
the boy's family home. They are not happy when the boy brought the dog
into the house, then the child stood up and asked why should not bring his dog
home. The father is actually the parents who make the final decision that the
dog can stay in the household. Small children and dogs to be very close, even
the family finally stopped hitting and throwing things at the dog because it
would interfere with the child. Every time the dog would be beaten, he always
felt guilty and never hold a grudge against the children. The two became
inseparable.
c.
End
One day, his
father came home drunk and even if the child is seen, not dogs. The father
immediately saw the dog and started throwing the kitchen equipment. The dog was
surrendered by lying on your back and say prayers. The father took the dog,
swung it around his head, and threw it out the window. The dog had landed on
the roof of the five stories below and then slid into the aisle. The boy was
rushed downstairs and sat on the dog's body.
4.
Point
of fiew
Third person protagonist
•
Indirect Interior Monologue
5.
Theme And Message
Theme : friends
not only with human, but also make friends with animals.
Message :
A good friend is a friend who did not look at it who
BAB III
CLOSING
Conclution
Literature of the world
should we watch to be enjoyed by all future generations, so they can know what
the content contained in these short stories, so they can respect the work of
the literary past.
Values contained in the
short story must contain the value of education, especially in the story a dark
brown dog, in this story contained a lot of educational value delivered by a
child with a small dog.
For the analysis of short
stories, in order to further develop until the end of the period.
Suggestion
Aims
for all generations to be able to maintain the previous literature already
exists, so that literature can stay awake all time.
Biblography
