The baddest dog in harlem - Analytical essay - 1052 Words

Power of the Police The short story â€Å"The Baddest Dog in Harlem† is written by Walter Dean Myers and is a short story in the collection of short stories â€Å"145th Street†. 145th Street is also where the â€Å"the Baddest Dog in Harlem† is taking place. Some friends were sitting on the rail outside of Big Joe’s place. Suddenly the police appear and the trouble starts. The police are looking for a man with an automatic gun. Lots of people are gathering to see what is going on, and a kid yells out that he saw somebody in the building that the police were staring at. Immediately the police start shooting. After a while the owner of the apartment in the building that the police shot at shows up. She wants a black person to go with her and the†¦show more content†¦The police exploit their power without even being sure of anything. With great power comes responsibility, and the police do not live up to this responsibility. It is possible to draw several parallels to â€Å"American Skin (41 shots)† by Bruce Springsteen. In the song, â€Å"41 shots† are repeated many times, because it was the exact number of bullets, shot by four policemen to kill an innocent man named Amadou Diallo. This is just like the ridicules amount of bullets the police used in â€Å"The Baddest Dog in Harlem† just to kill an innocent person. â€Å"Lena gets her son ready for school She says on these streets, Charles You ve got to understand the rules. If an officer stops you, Promise me you ll always be polite, That you ll never ever run away Promise Mama you ll keep your hands in sight† This part shows how anxious people are for the police. The Police are way to powerful, just like in the short story. The ironical part is that the police should make people fell safe, but does the opposite. â€Å"41 shots And we’ll take that ride Cross the bloody river To the other side 41 shots... cut through the night You re kneeling over his body in the vestibule Praying for his life† This part of the song is similar to the ending of the