“When an underdog was crushed by an upperdog, the underdog dared not do anything to stop this upperdog but picked out bottom -dog for revenge.”
This is a sentence that evokes feelings of confusion. This is a sentence that needs to be reread in order to understand. This leads a reader to look for a deeper meaning in this sentence. One may wonder, what is the author trying to say without saying it?
Word choice also seems very purposeful. Underdog and upperdog are said in the sentence several times and are the subject of the sentence. The repetition of dog may allude to fighting, struggle or conflict. The origins of this term, have been claimed to come from dog fighting. The first uses of the term underdog or top dog come from the actual movement and placement of the winning dog. This was an activity that became popular in the 19th century. However, has existed for years, and is a form of entertainment for people and cultures around the world. It is legal in China to dogfight but not gamble. The author may be purposefully using these terms such as top dog and underdog to, show life as almost a gamble or entertainment.
Dog fighting can be seen as such a terrible, violent and awful thing but still goes on openly and behind closed doors in the world. Along with racism and colorism or the fight to be on top.
It may also connect to the supposed innateness of hierarchies. Dogs are animals maybe the author is suggesting that people are too when it comes to being on top and power. There is always someone who is above and with that there is always someone below. The people below, will pick on the lowest of the bottom in order to gain some type of power/status even at a “underdog” level.
There is a relation of Chinese in America to the above findings. Chinese are at a disadvantage to white folks, however, are systematically better off than black individuals. Many Asian Americans use their skin or privilege to be above black. During Jim Crow and segregation, many Asian Americans were considered partially white. They may be moved out of the “black” section into the white.