I love this ride at Disney World. I hate to say that my first encounter with this piece of literature is through a stylized amusement park ride, but it's true. Ah America...
These stories, while barely a page long, took me awhile to get through. Again, it's the language thing. (Always is, hm?) I know that it is written true-to-life in a dialect. I think that's great- better to be truthful than to make the characters talk in formal English. However, being raised in this era, in the north, I just can't seem to get a hold of the language very well.
I thought I sort of knew the story of Brer Rabbit, Fox, and Bear. Because I went on one Disney ride. I was so wrong. "Uncle Remus Initiates the Little Boy" was a great introduction into the saga of these characters. Brer Rabbit's whit is shown throughout, making him the protagonist of the story. Could he represent something else though? Most tales of this era had some inner meaning, some moral. What can we see from these?
"The response of Uncle Remus led to the earnest recital of a piece of unwritten history that must prove interesting to ethnologists."
I loved the "Why the Negro is Black" story. Instead of being another racist tale, this one attempts to unify the theory that "we're all the same". It's a lovely message now, and especially then. The idea of all people being the same and our only difference is whether or not we entered the pool is a nice thought for this time- one that surely wasn't the norm. A wonderful story to tell the little boy; I could see people using one with a similar message now.
Posted by VanessaKolberg at November 7, 2005 11:59 PM | TrackBackHaha, Vanessa, I went on that ride too! Didn't it go off of a cliff at the end, like a waterfall? I don't see any relation to the stories we read about them. I also blogged about how the stories were short, but took a long time to read. In addition, I also blogged about how the first story gave a great introduction to the characters, which was all I got out of it. Check them out if you get a chance!
Posted by: Ashley Holtzer at November 8, 2005 09:18 AMI love that ride! I also liked the last story because it is such a change from what people usually talk about concerning the differences between races. I liked the fact that it was almost written more in favor of the African American culture rather than from the normal white perspective.
Posted by: Stacy at November 8, 2005 01:13 PMIt is SO interesting to me how people will interpret things so differently. This movie is quite offensive to me. Another thing that I find interesting is how some have a hard time reading something written in dialect.
*shrugs*
Posted by: Mary Jane Burns at July 23, 2006 05:07 PM