The Law of Life
Jack London‘s The Law of Life tells of the life and impending death of Koskoosh, an old Inuit who was once chief of his tribe but is left by them to die in the snow. Some critics suggest that although Koskoosh is the protagonist, the real hero of the story is an old moose that was too weak to keep up with its herd. Can you see why? Major themes: the inevitability of death (the law of life), survival of the individual (man vs. nature), survival of the tribe (expendability of the old and weak), tradition, courage, acceptance.
This folktale is about a greedy cat that cheats a trusting friend. A cat and mouse decide to live together. They discover a pot of ‘fat’ (probably dripping) and hide it in a safe place so they will have something to eat over winter. Unfortunately, the cat cannot stop thinking about the pot and empties it well before time. In most folktales, something bad would happen to the cat to teach it a lesson. Not so here! When the mouse complains, the cat does what cats normally do. The moral: You can’t change the natural ways of the world.
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