Joel Chandler Harris Essay, Research Paper

Joel Chandler Harris’ stories are so impressive because of the way he presents them and because of their humorous wisdom. Unlike many stories about black culture, Harris’ stories were taken from blacks that he had actually known. Moreover, stories such as “How Mr. Rabbit was too sharp for Mr. Fox” were told first hand through a black character, Uncle Remus. This way of writing made more of an impression on readers than a story wrote about blacks. This way, all people could read the stories without being offended.

The second reason people enjoyed Harris’ writings is because of the wisdom one was left with after reading them. “How Mr. Rabbit was too sharp for Mr. Fox” shows us how Brer Fox wanted to hurt Mr. Rabbit so badly that he took Rabbit’s advice and let him go. This teaches us that when we try and squeeze someone too hard they have a better chance of sliding through our fingers. Harris’ stories made you laugh at the end but at the same time left you with a little more wisdom.

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Jewett begins by describing a girl who is driving a cow that is a “valued companion” (text). This shows us that the girl can trust her rural friend while urban people cannot. Later the girl’s past is shown to us and we can see how she is much more comfortable in nature. This is confirmed when the boy appears. Sylvia is terrified of him but later is interested in him because of his kindness. Because of Sylvia’s bad urban history, she can see how wonderful rural life is and will not allow the boy to

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corrupt her. She will not betray nature by helping the boy find the heron or by taking his money. She can see the difference of urban and rural when she climbs the large pine tree. After that event, not even her grandmother can get her to tell her secret. Sylvia then feels bad for not helping the boy. But when she later hears his gun fire upon the birds, she feels good for not helping kill “a White Heron.”