Summary

The story “The Red Bow” takes place in a small town. The protagonist/narrator is an adult male resident of the town, but his name is not stated in the story. The protagonist’s young daughter was recently attacked and killed by a rabies-infected dog. The protagonist—crushed with grief and a sense of guilt regarding his daughter’s death—is now on a mission to make sure no other children in the town are ever in danger of suffering the same fate. In service of this mission, the protagonist forms a group of followers who decide to execute any dog in the town that seems like it might possibly be rabid. When they suspect that the pet dog of the local priest (Father Terry) might possibly be rabid, they try to execute it. Father Terry intervenes, claiming that his dog is healthy. However...