...TOPIC:-What is Moral Fable? How can you say that Hard Times is a Moral Fable? BY: CHETAN ANKUR Moral fable combines the left (logical) & right (creative) side of the brain, so it both entertains creatively and validates certain types of behaviour, morally. The creative part is the fairy tale which often involves animals rather than humans. It speaks to our hearts as it entertains us; the ending is the logical, moral conclusion that satisfies our logical brains and seems "right". The problem with all moral fables is that there are often 2 sides to the same story ... things are rarely so black and white in reality ... so there could be more than one ending ... e.g. there are times when speed is necessary over steadiness - of course, there also has to be good judgement. Although it is not appropriate to describe a work of art, which Hard Times undoubtedly is, as a moral fable or a morality play, yet the fact remains that there is a strong moral intention behind this novel. Hard Times is a satirical attack on some of the evils and vices of Victorian society. Satire has always corrective purpose and is therefore basically moral in its approach to the subjects it deals with. Apart from that, there are passages of direct moralising in this novel. Hard Times is a novel which from the moment of its publication aroused very different sentiments in the reading public. Dickens's reasons for writing Hard Times were mostly monetary. Sales of...
Words: 1949 - Pages: 8
...The Gentlemen of the Jungle is a fable written by Jomo Kenyatta. Kenyatta is famous due to the work he has done with the rights and for the independence of Kenya. He was arrested because he was a member of a radical anti-colonial movement. The British used to call him the African leader to darkness and death. The story is about a man living and speaking with animals, but the animals trick him, even though they pretend that they are his friends. In the end the man kills the animals. In my analysis and interpretation I’ll be focussing on the use of genre and style of writing and at last I’ll talk about the message of the story. The genre is, as said before, a fable. It is a fable because Kenyatta uses animals to represent what he means. The animals are given human feelings and actions and on top of that they are able to speak and think as humans. He also uses sentences as “once upon a time” and “lived happily ever after”, which are typical fable sentences. It is an omniscient narrator seen from another point of view, which is already seen in the first line, where it says “Once upon a time an elephant made a friendship with a man.” In which none of the characters are described as I or we but described from another point of view. This is also a typical thing from a fable, because it often has a deeper meaning, and therefore everyone should be able to relate to it, which can be difficult when using personal characters. The animals are talking to each other with titles before...
Words: 1007 - Pages: 5
...short story, The Faithful Bull, is less well known. It is essentially a fable having been written for the child of a friend and published in 1951. Twenty-one years later, the famous linguist, William Labov laid out a framework outlining the progression of oral narratives in a six-part structure. The advantage of this Labovian method of analysis is that it can also be applied to literary narratives in general, not just to oral versions of personal experience. Using Hemingway’s 700-word fable, written in his inexorable, economic style and applying Labov’s six-part model (abstract, orientation, complicating action, evaluation, result, coda), I intend to confirm the suitability of this form of analysis for the short story. The abstract of the narrative announces the initiation of a narrative and can, in effect, report the entire sequence of events, outlining the story. An abstract is not however an essential part of a narrative and can be omitted. A true explanatory abstract has no place in The Faithful Bull, it being a short story, but it does have a title. This three-word title does actually tell us very briefly what the story is about; a specific bull who is faithful and in this way, the title fulfils the norms of an abstract, albeit in a very transient way. It stimulates the addressees’ curiosity and focuses their attention on the narration. The orientation gives information about the time, the place of events, the participants’ identities and their initial behaviour...
Words: 1394 - Pages: 6
...In the journal article’s introduction, P. Preti and A. Miotto begin by discussing the prevalence of suicide in today’s world. According to them, there is a higher chance of suicide in the world because of improved living conditions, which lower the chance of demise by biological disease, but in turn allow a person more time to develop mental illnesses during his or her lifetime. Some of these mental illness could eventually lead to suicide. Suicide is usually an unanticipated event, but there are ways to help avert it, such as treating depression (if they have it), suicidal help lines, and education about identifying the risk factors and unhealthy behaviors associated with it. Much like the ancient Greeks, people nowadays commit suicide for...
Words: 941 - Pages: 4
...planet where the ship broke in two, leaving the only working beacon in the tail of the ship some 100 kilometers away from them, on earth 1000 years after they have left it. "After Earth" is a lovely surprise. This film from producer-costar Will Smith and director M. Night Shyamalan, about a father and son marooned on a hostile future earth, is a moral tale disguised as a sci-fi blockbuster. It's no classic, but it's a special movie: spectacular and wise. Says Matt Zoller Sietz from RogerEbert.com If you’re looking for an action adventure, or a pure Sci-Fi you might be disappointed as the storyline isn’t after that. If you notice little backdrop details about the scenes of the movie and love an interesting storyline, that’s where this movie comes through very strong. It isn’t just about a father and son being shipwrecked on a planet, or even about them bonding together even though it does cover that pretty well. As far as movies go, it seemed to me to be a little predictable even watching it the first time, but I was still able to pick up on a little of what it was teaching me. Teaching? You ask, yes this movies is a Fable, and fables teach us. They show us how we cope with our fears and how we have preconceived ideas about our fears, whether taught to us from our parents or from life. But when...
Words: 1418 - Pages: 6
... Dark Romanticism", explains how Poe tells a story with seemingly no hidden message and he wants to look further into the story for the hidden meaning. Mr. Glassheim starts to explain how one the surface the tale is weak and one feels cheated. He talks about Poe's sheers at the practice of the scholars that say every fiction should have a moral, and that they found that every fiction does. He mentions the way Poe attacks the critics, such as those from the Dial and Down-Easter, who prefer stories with moral lessons that can be summed up in didactic tag lines. During the first few paragraphs of the story Eliot says that the narrators voice can be identified with Poe, who has been accused to have never written a moral tale. He goes on to say that Poe is setting out to prefect the perfect moral fable form, starting off better than his predecessors by announcing his moral in the title. Eliot says that the insult to Dial is an attack on Transcendental Idealists in general. He goes on to explain how the narrator simply characterizes Toby Dammit's behavior as queer. He then mentions how Poe says the other Transcendental critics of the time would explain Toby's behavior. According to Eliot the satire against transcendentalism is reasonable and convincing. However, he warns to be careful because the narrator isn't presented as normal either. He says that although at first he seems to be Poe's voice in mocking didactic tales, he reveals himself to be a pompous moralizer. Eliot says...
Words: 1015 - Pages: 5
...happen in quick succession; the Cat swipes his face with her claws, the Donkey picks up his hooves and kicks him, the Dog bites him on the leg, and the Rooster crows and chases him out the door, screaming. He tells his companions that he was beset by a horrible witch who scratched him with her long fingers (the Cat), a man with a knife (the Dog), a monster who had hit him with a club (the Donkey), and worst of all, the devil who screamed from the rooftop (the Rooster). The robbers abandon the cottage to the strange creatures who have taken it, where the animals live happily for the rest of their days. The Boy Who Cried Wolf The Boy Who Cried Wolf, also known as The Shepherd Boy and the Wolf, is a fable attributed to Aesop (210 in Perry's numbering system[1]). The protagonist of the fable is a bored shepherd boy who entertained himself by calling out...
Words: 2251 - Pages: 10
...In this essay, I would like to compare and contrast gender roles/marriage and primarily show through two literary works found in my textbook the differences and likenesses of each story, as they are being told to the audience. The short stories that I have chosen to discuss for this essay are “The Necklace”, by Guy de Maupassant and “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty”, by James Thurber. I will try to compare and contrast both stories and give the audience a brief summary, explaining the likenesses and differences and engaging the reader, while doing so. In the short summary of the short story "The Secret Life of Walter Mitty". This short-story tells the tale of Walter Mitty while on a trip into town with his wife, the bossy and serious Mrs. Mitty. Walter is sadly incompetent of doing many things; he forgets a lot of things, is very absent-minded while driving, and cannot handle the simplest tasks. But, what makes Walter unique throughout this short-story is his imagination. While Walter goes through his tasks, he escapes into a world of many fantasies, each brought on by reality. While driving his car he starts to day dream that he is a commander on a “Navy hydroplane" going through a storm. (Clugston, 2010). While passing a hospital, he believes he is a famous surgeon, known throughout the world for saving lives. He imagines he is being interrogated in court on a case, when he hears a newsboy shouting about a trial. Also, when he is waiting for his wife, he imagines himself...
Words: 3290 - Pages: 14
...The Lord of the Rings: the longest fable ever told It is no secret that The Lord of the Rings has been one of the most beloved trilogies ever written. It has conjured up a fanatical group of followers over its history. The question is why is this book so beloved? Why when we pick up this book are we so enthralled with it? What about this book keeps us coming back for more? I believe for this book that it is because it has so many great messages hidden inside a package wrapped with adventure. A book becomes great when we can relate to its messages and characters very deeply. The never ending battle of good versus evil goes on to this day all around us. This book tells us everything that we should and should not do in our lives. It is like reading the entire collection of Aesop’s fables at one sitting. I don’t think that I have ever been so moved to laughter and tears by written words. The morals of this story are the reasons that I will list for its greatness. I will start with a fierce warning against the evils of greed. The dwarves of Moria were a great and powerful race. They lived in this particular mountain because they could find the mithril ore no where else in the world. It was very light but very hard, excellent for making weapons and armor. They became very greedy and delved deeper and deeper into the ground to keep there supply coming. They were warned that evil things lie deep in the ground, but they did not heed these warnings. It was there doom. Every...
Words: 1386 - Pages: 6
...Teach Africa tm World Affairs Council of Houston The Oral Traditions of Africa What are oral traditions? Oral traditions are messages that are transmitted orally from one generation to another. The messages may be passed down through speech or song and may take the form of folktales and fables, epic histories and narrations, proverbs or sayings, and songs. Oral Traditions make it possible for a society to pass knowledge across generations without writing. They help people make sense of the world and are used to teach children and adults about important aspects of their culture. The art of storytelling There is a rich tradition throughout Africa of oral storytelling. Although written history existed for centuries in West Africa, most writing was in Arabic, and the majority of people did not read or write in Arabic. So the transmission of knowledge, history and experience in West Africa was mainly through the oral tradition and performance rather than on written texts. Oral traditions guide social and human morals, giving people a sense of place and purpose. There is often a lesson or a value to instill, and the transmission of wisdom to children is a community responsibility. Parents, grandparents, and relatives take part in the process of passing down the knowledge of culture and history. Storytelling provides entertainment, develops the imagination, and teaches important lessons about everyday life. World Affairs Council of Houston PO Box 920905 Houston, TX 77292-0905 Voice...
Words: 2717 - Pages: 11
...which had their hero decease because of a human flaw. This made the audience empathetic towards the protagonist. “What is the What” written by Dave Egger, tried to play on the same emotion of Empathy. Achak at a young age is separated from his family during the Sudanese War when Arab soldiers also known as the murahaleen savagely riad his village, Marial Bai. Fleeing on foot to Ethiopia, with other boys like him, forming “The Lost Boys”. Finally they arrive to another refugee camp in Kakuma, becoming his home. Ultimately Valentino comes to America. The story is told parallel to succeeding hardship in the United States. “What is the What” provides imaginative empathy, playing on human trauma and the ability for altruistic motives, the moral obligation to empathize with remote and disparate people. Eggers’ novel represents African culture and memoirs as a way to converse with an audience. These memoirs and representative of culture to an American audience forces a limited, bias view. Egger channels Valentino rather than embellish him. He tends to use the protagonist as a mouthpiece to provide historical background forcing Valentino to relate his story in a series of direct addresses. Using these addresses he enables the audience to connect with Valentino, using a universally known concept: conversation. This leads Eggers to inaugurate any information he deems necessary to his audience. As the audience we sit and read the book and envisage Eggers information as candid. Contorting...
Words: 2029 - Pages: 9
...where applicable (eg. New Organon, Advancement), I have also indicated the place in the text by markers common to all editions -- book number, chapter, section, aphorism, essay number. The page number in the cited edition follows a comma where such information is helpful. AL The Advancement of Learning DA de Dignitate et Augmentis Scientarum Essays Essays or Counsels Civil and Moral (1625) GI The Great Instauration ;NA New Atlantis NO Novum Organum PFB Philosophy of Francis Bacon Preface Preface to the Great Instauration PW Plan of the Work (in Weinberger 1989) WA Of the Wisdom of the Ancients INTRODUCTION Understanding political judgment in Baconian terms necessitates an investigation of the question of who rules in Bensalem, Bacon’s island “utopia” presented in his New Atlantis. Only by answering this question might one know where to look for one who either possesses or is in a position to exercise such judgment. By locating the individual(s) who exercise political power, one might begin to come to an understanding of the qualities, disposition, and capacity – both moral and intellectual – of one who exercises judgment as well as, perhaps, the political framework within which the ruler operates. Even if a particular ruler is unable to be located, the investigation may prove fruitful for seeing what a ruler must be – the principles behind any rule as such, regardless of personage. The question of who rules in Bensalem is not a new idea. Indeed, it is...
Words: 9233 - Pages: 37
...Shlok Kumar Professor Padma Baliga English Literature Upto 1900 13 September 2010 The Canterbury Tales and the Panchatantra: Two Frame Narratives contrasted The East has a wonderful tradition in teaching morals through interesting tales; India has given the world the earliest such tales in the form of the Panchatantra, the Hitopadesa and even the Puranas. The Canterbury Tales and the Panchatantra are both frame narratives- often known as ‘story within a story.’ Yet the target audience of both these works is different. And this arises from the nature of these works. Whilst The Canterbury Tales was written by Chaucer originally for a courtly, upper class audience, the Panchatantra was written to teach the high morals and sensibilities of Vedic literature to three disinterested princes in the simplest language, using animals as symbols and characters. Indeed, the Panchatantra and its derivative work, the Hitopadesa are often dismissed as stories for children. Though these fables are indeed vastly instructive, they also teach a way of thriving in the material world and a way of life itself; the Panchatantra is referred to as a niti-shastra. This paper attempts to contrast the Canterbury Tales with the Panchatantra and illustrate the manner in which the latter is a niti-shastra without being merely populated by abstruse, pithy phrases. We know that in The Canterbury Tales, a group of about 30 pilgrims gather at the Tabard Inn in Southwark, across the Thames...
Words: 2772 - Pages: 12
...understanding. The project ‘grew like Topsy’ and before long we had plans afoot to publish a small book that could, with a bit of luck, help to narrow the cultural divide between north and south Thailand. And, of course, educate and amuse us poor, ignorant, foreigners! Together with my friend and former colleague, Ajarn Kevin Marshall, we agreed to edit the student’s submissions, bring the often-archaic language up-to-date and inject modern usage and idioms whilst retaining the spirit of the original. It was a big idea but one that, ultimately, came to naught. Students became involved in the imperatives of finals and left to make their way in the world. I moved on and the whole project gathered dust, if that’s the right expression, on the hard drive of my laptop. Gathered dust that is, until a few weeks ago while in conversation with Dennis Peacock on one of his welcome visits to the Province of Songkhla…...
Words: 6614 - Pages: 27
...not only of the educational system itself but also of advertising, the music industry, etc., they should be interested in exploring how language can control thought and behavior. Animal Farm is short and contains few words that will hamper the reader’s understanding. The incidents in the novel allow for much interactive learning, providing opportunities for students to dramatize certain portions, to expand on speeches, and to work out alternative endings. The novel can be taught collaboratively with the history department as an allegory of the Russian Revolution, allowing students to draw parallels between actual events and people and the imaginary ones created by Orwell. The novel can also be taught as a beast fable following the study of shorter fables by Aesop and James Thurber. Examining the work as a satirical comment on the corrupting influence of power, students should be able to trace the corruption of the pigs and perhaps relate their findings to individuals in our own...
Words: 9582 - Pages: 39
