Pink Dog- Elizabeth Bishop

"If they do this to anyone who begs,
drugged, drunk, or sober, with or without legs,
what would they do to sick, four-legged dogs?" PAGE 799

This poem was a little confusing to me. At first I was sure that it was meant to be read literally, but as I continued I started to doubt that idea. I think that the pink dog should be interpretted in a more general light. I do not think that it was meant to be just literally a hairless dog, but rather a symbol for something. I think the speaker was trying to make a statement about society and how it treats the people. It was not solely saying that a hairless dog would not be treated well. I think it was saying that the lowest of the low or those in poverty are sometimes viewed like dogs. I think the speaker was implying a comparison in the way that they beg on the streets for food. The idea presented at the end of putting on a mask or a costume for Carnival made me think of people who put on an act. Sometimes people try to pretend they are something they are not and I think this poem called them out on it because they think that just because they change their clothes they are suddenly a different person who does not deserve to be in the situation they are in. The more I read, I think that their is a deeper meaning than the surface literal one.