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Topic Research : Aesop's Fables




This week, I chose to focus on doing more research on Aesop’s Fables. I have wanted to do my a project over them from the beginning, and I personally think the highest quality writing I can do will be over multiple short stories as opposed to a longer project. Following this, I want each one to have a specific moral that (hopefully) the reader can take something away from. I read a lot of his stories over the week and have stuck with a few that I would be interested in developing more.

One that I originally read was The Belly and the Limbs. Essentially, individual parts of the body stop functioning in rebellion against the stomach, but all starve to death in the end. I like this fable because it can be applied to so many organizations whose teamwork is essential for the success of the whole. What I thought of most was how politics function; I know so many people that do not educate themselves or vote on important issues even though could only work to hurt them in the end. Just as the limbs no longer want to do their work, a nation that does not vote or care to participate will only cause the politically elite—the belly—to wither and be of a lesser quality, which in turn can have terrible effects on a nation. Of course, this moral can apply to many other situations as well; it will be fun to keep exploring the possibilities!

The Old Dog and his Master invoked a strange feeling of nostalgia. I was reminded of the Studio Ghibli movie, Howl’s Moving Castle, in which a young maiden is transformed into an old lady (alongside strong anti-war themes). I really like watching Studio Ghibli even now because alongside stunning visual creativity, many of their movies run deep with themes such as the innocence of children (My Neighbor Totoro), greed and its consequences (Spirited Away), and many more. This fable stressed respect for elders; Howl’s Moving Castle was a statement against the bias against old age and stressed how life is worth living (and getting old for). It disrupts the stereotype of “aged unattractiveness” and replaces it with wisdom and compassion. In my culture, elders are treated with the most respect. I think it would be so enjoyable to retell this fable with some elements of the movie to really drive home how elders should be respected and appreciated.


Howl's Moving Caste; source: Studio Ghibli



The Wind and the Sun is pretty straightforward in its message: gentleness and kindness prevails where force fails. I picked this as a possibility because of the descriptive writing I could do with it. I like The Lion and the Bulls for a similar reason, the message is clear that a quarrel of friends is the opportunity of foes. But I am thinking of developing it further by applying it to how our university has been. This has not been a great year for The University of Oklahoma, but instead of attacking one another, I think there needs to be more collaborative effort rather than just criticizing the different organizations/departments. I was thinking of doing this through making each bull a different color and making the bulls turn against one another because of these colors that they didn’t find a separating factor before. Another moral I thought of is how much stronger people can be together than apart. There are many things I want to do with these stories, but I worry about having the writing ability to actually put it in motion.

The last fable I am focusing on for now is The Blackamoor. I predict this would be the most challenging to retell, and I am still not even certain if it is something I have the capacity to do. This is one of the only I found that explicitly dealt with skin color. This is intimidating to tackle; I considered just reversing the characters with light and dark skin as a twist at the end, but it seems kind of unoriginal. There are many angles I could approach this with, it would be difficult to find the best one, but could be something really amazing in the end.

One more issue I really wanted to work on is female empowerment and equality, but I couldn’t really find a fable that was gender specific. I also didn’t see a way to reinterpret many of them without making it seem like I am making a slight at men. Maybe it’s impossible to do provocative writing without offending one party, but I will keep reading more fables throughout this upcoming week to find suitable ones I could retell!

 Aesop's Fables. Perry Index. Translated in Loeb Classical Library. 



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