In the novel To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee, the main characters: Atticus, Scout and Jem faced many losing battles like the case of Tom Robinson, the " "mad dog incident" and Mrs. Dubose's addiction to morphine. This builds on the theme that there are some things in life that won't go the way you want them to. The book is set in the 1930s or 1940 in a small town in Alabama called Maycomb The novel introduces us to the life and perils that the main characters endure and teaches us about growing up and becoming mature To begin with, one of the lost battles in the novel has. was the mad dog incident This event began on page 96. Jem and Scout met Tim Johnson, a "liver-colored bird dog, Maycomb's pet" (p. 96). and almost crawled. The children ran to Calpurnia, their cook who identified the dog as a rabid dog... and after that people immediately rushed home and the street where the Finches lived was deserted. Atticus (Scout and Jem's father) and Heck Tate (the sheriff) soon arrived to see what was going on. The dog was shivering, its jaw opening and closing and slowly moving towards Atticus, Heck and the children. Heck immediately handed his rifle to Atticus who had hesitated to shoot the dog. "I haven't fired a gun in thirty years..." (p. 100) was Atticus' response. Heck gave Atticus his rifle and said, “I would feel very comfortable if you did it now” (p. 100). Atticus took the gun and slowly aimed at the dog with intense concentration. His glasses slipped off his nose and broke…but he didn't pay attention. "With movements so rapid they seemed simultaneous, Atticus's hand pulled on a ball-tipped lever as he raised the gun to his shoulder. The gun cracked." (p. 100). Atticus shot the dog and ended his life…and the dog “didn’t know what hit him” (p. 100). This shows that the incident was a losing battle for the dog, as the dog could not stop himself from dying. He almost died because he was sick and in great pain. At first, Atticus didn't want to shoot the dog, but he knew he had to protect the town and free the dog from his pain. Because the dog had no choice whether to die or not, this is an example of a losing battle...