How are scarecrows symbolic in the novel, Dog Years?

The symbol of the scarecrow is particularly significant in pointing out the roles people played during the "Dog Years." Amsel has a hobby of constructing grotesque scarecrows. Parts of his life are depicted in them, including the incident when his anti-Semitic classmates beat him. As Henry Hatfield points out, Amsel's most important constructs are of SA men, so that these scarecrows (which are also very effective at scaring birds) are both representations and symbols of the Nazis. The Nazis are scarecrows, distortions of mankind, who frighten ordinary people (likened to dogs throughout the book) into horrific acts. Ironically, of course, scarecrows frighten because of their appearance, not their substance. Scarecrows are effective because of a perception in birds; the Nazis were effective because of some element in the character of the people who collaborated with them. Otherwise, they were powerless.