Preparing for Bettel…heim: Native American Aesop Fables

While perusing the stacks for a multicultural picturebook item at the local branch of the Toronto Public Library for this week’s class, one book in particular caught my eye: Doctor Coyote: A Native American Aesop’s Fables, retold by John Bierhorst (1987). After I grabbed the book and checked out this item, a thought occurred to me: why did I choose this particular book? Subsequently I thought about one of the scholarly readings that we have for this week, Bettelheim’s The Struggle For Meaning (1991).

On the second page of this article, Bettelheim makes, in my opinion anyway, a powerful statement. After discussing his dissatisfaction about the state of children’s literature, he argues: “…[a vast majority of children’s literature] fails to stimulate and nurture those resources [which a child] needs most in order to cope with his difficult inner problems” (p. 377). It is the latter part of his statement, that is, about giving children something substantial to cope with life’s turmoil that really made me think.

One of the very few memories I have of reading books with my parents concerns Aesop’s fables. I think I was, perhaps, about six or seven, sitting on my parents lap listening to them regale me with moralistic fables from ancient times; fables, it should be said, which often result in the protagonist’s death or humiliation. Did these fables help me comprehend moral responsibility, as Bettelheim implies, or was this just a wistful remembrance of times past (pardon the rephrasing, Mr. Focault).

Looking at Bierhorst retelling of Aesop’s Fables, several other notions came to mind, which seem to negate Bettelheim’s postmodern philosophic interpretation. Going back to the beginning of my reflection for a moment, the reality of my choosing of Bierhorst’s rendering of Greek myth may, in fact, have to do with the cover illustration. It, at least subconsciously, reminded me of Richard Scarry’s book, Cars, Trucks, and, Things That Go. I remember reading this book incessantly as a child; so much so, that the cover ended up falling off.

In the end, did this book or Bierhorst’s take on Aesop’s fables end up meeting Bettelheim’s criteria? I would think not, but for me, a nice memory of my childhood certainly gave me, for a time, a nice feeling that helped me raise my mood and cope with life’s stress and problems. Maybe it is Bettelheim who needs to reevaluate his stance; I’m just happy with a brief, but pleasant, memory.

Bettelheim, B. (1991). The struggle for meaning. In Folk and fairy tales, eds. Martin Hallet and Barbara Karas, 326-345. Peterborough: Broadview Press.

Bierhorst, J. (1987). Doctor Coyote: A Native American Aesop’s Fables. New York: MacMillan.