Straw Dogs

[H.Wilkinson]

I've just watched the film Straw Dogs. Does anybody know why it's called Straw Dogs?

[andy hughes]

"In the eyes of every coward there burns a straw dog ..." I don't know why this phrase is connected to the title - I guess it sums up the film ...?

[Cetti]

I've just found another explanation. The phrase 'straw dogs' occurs in Lao-tzu's writings from around 500 B.C. according to Bartlett's Familiar Quotations (16th Ed.):

Heaven and Earth are not humane.

They regard all things as straw dogs.

Bartlett's contains this footnote referencing the phrase--"Straw dogs were used in sacrifices and then discarded."