Similar themes in Aesop’s fables and other literary genres
Aesop, a classical Greek fable creator, is famous for his collection of fables, short stories that often spotlighted animals as characters and imparted moral lessons.
Aesop Fable
1: The Tortoise and the Hare is a tale of a proud hare who challenges a slow-moving tortoise to a race.
The hare is so assured about his speed that he decided to take a nap. While the tortoise continues to walk slowly.
The hare assuredness of himself let him sleep, and the tortoise reached its destination and won the race.
Other literary genres (novels)
The Alchemist, a novel written by Paulo Coelho, narrates the story of Santiago, a shepherd boy who started a journey in search of a hidden treasure, guided by his dreams and a desire to fulfill his legend.
Along the way, he confronts many characters and undergoes different experiences, finally finding that the treasure he wants is not just a physical object but a deeper understanding of himself and the world.
The novel explores themes of destiny, spirituality, and the importance of following dreams.
Time
Though both the fable and novel belong to different periods, one to ancient times and the other to modern times they still have similar themes.
This states that no matter what age it is, people still have the same feelings and emotions towards many ideas.
The Tortoise and the Hare is an ancient story with no known author, rooted in oral tradition.
The Alchemist is a modern novel written by Paulo Coelho in the late 20th century.
We can extract the idea of persistence from the above writings and apply it to various spheres of life.
To be persistent while following the right path no matter what hurdles come your way.
To avoid illegal actions, bear the consequences in mind.
Follow your dreams no matter how slow, but be persistent and finally win.
A similar theme of persistence
Both the novel and the fable teach similar lessons.
The stories focus on the significance of
persistence and determination in achieving goals.
In the novel, Santiago, the protagonist, starts a trek to fulfill his legend, encountering many challenges along the way, but he perseveres.
In The Tortoise and the Hare, the tortoise’s steady and unwavering pace finally leads to victory over the overconfident and fast hare.
Aesop Fable
2: The Boy Who Cried Wolf
This is a fable about a young shepherd boy who fabricated the idea that a wolf was attacking the sheep he’s supposed to protect, just to get attention and amusement from nearby villagers. They rush to his help, but each time people come, they see no danger there.
One day, when a genuine wolf is seen by the boy, he cries for help again, but this time, the villagers do not believe him due to his previous false alarms. As a result, the wolf attacks the sheep, and the boy learns the consequences of lying. The moral of the story is that honesty is essential, and lying can lead to a loss of trust and credibility. The Boy Who Cried Wolf portrays the output of dishonesty and deception.
Other literary genres
Scarlet Letter (novel)
Nathaniel Hawthorne, in his novel The Scarlet Letter, portrays the main character, Hester Prynne, being shunned by her Puritan group.
The cause of her exclusion is her illegitimate child, and she is required to wear a scarlet letter A as a symbol of her sin.
Her story shows the results of her actions and society’s judgment.
It serves as a cautionary story about the results of one’s actions and the significance of moral uprightness.
The above tales convey the significance of truth and the results of dishonesty.
In The Scarlet Letter, Hester Prynne’s journey towards redemption equals the lessons about honesty and the weight of one’s actions found in Aesop’s fable.
We need to be mindful of the consequences of our actions.
These few words can have a great impact on our lives and can alter our actions to a great extent.
Injustice toward others can result in harm.
As is said by Ashfaq Ahmed, never deceive anyone. A deception is a big soul. It never dies, wanders around, and returns to you one day, because it loves its abode so much.