Essay 3 - The Rabbits Who Caused All the Trouble PDF

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The Rabbits Who Caused All the Trouble...

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Professor Kathleen White Eng101 Essay 3 Submission Date: November 9, 2020 “The Rabbits Who Caused All the Trouble” is a modern fable written by James Thurber in his book Fables for Our Time and Famous Poem Illustrated. Fable is a kind of short story that uses animals as main characters, which at the end delivers a moral lesson to its readers. A fable usually includes a conflict and a resolution, and with a maxim sometimes. Thurber depicts a story of how a group of wolves trying to eat rabbits and justify their behaviour. As mentioned, the main characters of this fable are rabbits, wolves, and other animals living close to them who do not have a major role in the story. First of all, it depicts how the group of wolves blame the rabbits for causing natural disaster which have nothing to do with the rabbits. The wolves have prejudice against the rabbits as they believe that only their way of living is right. What rabbits do daily; pounding on the ground, eating lettuce and carrots causes natural disasters like earthquakes, lightning as well as flooding. Having a discrimination and hatred against the rabbits, the group of wolves threaten to teach them a lesson if they do not behave well. It might be a prejudice, or it can also be an excuse for the wolves to justify their later action of eating the rabbits. The rabbits have made a decision to run away from the potential predators by running to a desert island. However, other animals make a promise to the rabbits by guaranteeing that they will show up whenever the wolves attack them. Of course, they do not keep their promises. At the end, the rabbits are enslaved by the wolves and become a meal for wolves. Thurber’s story is actually interpreting a historical event which is the Second World War. The wolves are trying to eliminate the rabbits in the story by giving nonsense and illogical excuses. During the World War Two, Nazi Germany tried to eliminate Jews by

giving a false hypothesis that the Germanic people are superior to the Jewish people. Of course, it was not true. The Jews and the Germans have different way of living, like the wolves and the rabbits. The Jews perhaps were better at making money while the Germans were better at making scientific and technological creations. Having different lifestyles, culture and rituals, it is not a valid statement to criticise the Jews for being wrong. There is no right or wrong. Another message that Thurber is trying to tell is hypocrisy. The image presented by the other nameless animals is hypocritical. They have guaranteed and promised the rabbits to show up whenever they are in need and in danger. However, when the wolves eat all the rabbits up, they are not there to defend the rabbits. While they find out the rabbits are missing, they confront to the wolves. But of course, they do nothing and their confrontation has become meaningless as the rabbits have already been long dead. The nameless animals here refer to the group of people who make promises that they cannot keep and promise the moon. They are neither willing to help nor sacrifice themselves, but they try to pretend they actually care. In Second World War, people in countries like the United Kingdom and France before the war started show similarities to these nameless animals. They reassured and made promises to weaker countries like the Czechoslovakia and Poland. When the invasion did happen, these hypocrites did not show up. I agree with Thurber on his criticism of hypocrisy. I share his negative view on hypocrisy as well. In real life, hypocrites can put others in danger while they try pretend to give a helping hand. Thirdly, Thurber criticised the cowardice of the rabbits. ‘Run, don’t walk, to the nearest desert island’ is the moral lesson taught by Thurber to his readers. It is true that rabbits can never compete with wolves. Wolves are natural predators and rabbits are weaker in many ways, for example, body size and speed. However, in view of dangers, rabbits should not await their doom. They cannot beat the wolves face to face. However, they can try to

escape the wolves by ‘running away to the desert island’. The story talks about how the rabbits are lectured with the thought that it is not acceptable to be escapists. The sentence “there is no world for escapist” appears twice in the story. However, it is not true in reality. What do the rabbits face at the end? Death is awaiting for them, like Jews in the Second World War. When they tried to stay in Germany or Poland and fought against the evil but powerful Nazi, they faced concentration camps and a series of torture. Most of them could not survive and died at the end. What happened to those flee away and seek asylum in foreign countries? They did survive and found a new home. Yes, being an escapist might be shameful, but it indeed save your life.

Citation

Thurber, J., 1940. Fables For Our Time And Famous Poems Illustrated. New York and Evanston: Harper and Row publishers....