Pound Pup Legacy

Once there was a child wandering about on the earth who was an orphan. He
   had neither father nor mother, and he was very sad. Nobody paid any
   attention to him, and nobody asked why he was sad. Though he was sad, the
   child did not know how to weep, for there were no tears yet in the world.
   When the moon saw the orphan child going about, he felt compassion: since
   it was night, the moon came down from heaven, lay down on the earth in
   front of the child and said, "Weep, orphan child! but do not let your tears
   fall on the earth, from which people get their food, for that would make
   the earth unclean. Let your tears fall on me. I shall take them with me
   back to the sky." The orphan child wept. Those were the first tears in the
   world, and they fell on the moon. The moon said: "I shall now give you the
   blessing that all people shall love you." After the child had wept his
   heart out, the moon went back to the sky. From that day on the orphan child
   was happy. Everyone gave him whatever delighted and gladdened him. To this
   day people can see on the moon's face the stains of the orphan child's
   tears, which were the first tears in the world.--The First Tears (Algeria:
   Kabyle)(1)

Orphan characters in folktales and literature symbolize our isolation from one another and from society. They do not belong to even the most basic of groups, the family unit, and in some cultures this is enough to cut them off from society at large. In other cultures, orphans are regarded as special people who must be protected and cared for at all costs. In either case, orphans are clearly marked as being different from the rest of society. They are the eternal Other.

Orphans are a tangible reflection of the fear of abandonment that all humans experience. Orphans are outcasts, separated because they have no connection to the familial structure which helps define the individual. This outcast state is not caused by any actions of their own but because of their difference from the "normal" pattern established by society. Orphans are a reminder that the possibility of utter undesired solitude exists for any human being.

Orphans are at once pitiable and noble. They are a manifestation of loneliness, but they also represent the possibility for humans to reinvent themselves. Orphans begin with a clean slate because they do not have parents to influence them either for good or for evil. They embody the hope that whatever the present situation, it can change for the better. When orphans succeed against all odds, their success ultimately becomes ours. We can look to orphans and say, "You see, there is hope for all of us if even this orphan child can overcome obstacles and succeed." Characters such as Dick Whittington and Yeh-Hsien (a Chinese Cinderella variant) go from rags to riches and so can we.

Orphan characters are prevalent in children's literature, both in folktales and in fiction. What is the relationship between the two? Are there patterns in folktales which recur across different stories and cultures? If such patterns exist, do they also occur in literary treatments of orphans? This discussion will show that such patterns can be found in folktales and that they do have a parallel in literary orphan stories.

METHODOLOGY

For this study, I examined fifty folktales from different cultures (see Appendix A) to find similarities, differences, and patterns which contributed to the evolution of the literary orphan hero and heroine. I found most of the tales by using The Fairy Tale Index (Eastman, 1926, 1952; Ireland, 1985, 1989; Sprug, 1994), The Storyteller's Sourcebook (MacDonald, 1982), and Thompson's Motif-Index (L111.4-L111.4.4, "The Orphan Hero"). I found the remaining tales by searching through folktale collections for children.

I used several criteria for story selection. First, both parents of the orphan had to be dead (according to the American Heritage College Dictionary, 3d ed., an orphan can be a child who has lost only one parent). Second, the story had to be a folktale rather than a literary tale. Literary tales are stories created by a particular author. Examples of literary tales which include folkloric elements but which are not really folktales include the "fairy tales" of Hans Christian Andersen and Oscar Wilde. Folktales, by contrast, include "all forms of prose narrative, written or oral, which have come to be handed down through the years" (Thompson, 1946, p. 4). It is impossible to separate the written and oral traditions because they have become so interconnected (Thompson, 1946). While this crossover between literature and oral narrative makes it difficult to discern which is the "original" version, all of the stories in this study, as far as I have been able to determine, are folktales that originated as oral narrative.

Third, I limited the study to those stories which were available in English or English translation. I tried to cast a wide net across a variety of countries, ethnic groups, and cultures. In many cases, I had to take the stories at face value, as source notes were either very sketchy or nonexistent. Some collections, such as Raouf Mama's (1998) Why the Goat Smells Bad and Other Stories from Benin, had very detailed notes and explanations of changes that were made to the stories from their original form, while other collections, such as those of Ruth Manning-Sanders, had no notes at all beyond listing the country of origin.

A major drawback in this process is the unevenness of source notes in collections for children. Without clear notes, it is difficult to determine where or from whom the author obtained the story. Even more puzzling is the question of how authentic the tale is if it has been retold by someone other than a member of the culture from which it stems. Many of these stories were retold by authors with a European or American background. It is possible that the Western literary tradition of the orphan hero/heroine contributed to the interpretation of folktales with orphan characters. Because it was not possible to place each story in its cultural framework, I chose to do a structural study rather than a contextual one. For purposes of this study, there are enough stories with good source notes to be sure that many of these tales are "authentic," but it would make for an interesting further study to determine how much folktale collections for children have imposed a Eurocentric viewpoint when telling the tales of other cultures.

ORPHANS IN FOLKTALES

Folklorists, psychologists, literary scholars, and sociologists who study folktales agree that these stories represent more than simple entertainment for children. The meaning contained in folktales varies according to who is reading, listening, or telling the story; the cultural context in which it is read or heard; and the sense that the individual teller tries to convey. For example, Darnton (1984) points out that the world which peasants in early modern France inhabited was so difficult that we can hardly imagine it now. Stepmothers and orphans were common and this, in part, explains why they are customary figures in folktales.

In The European Folktale, Luthi (1982) states that the hero in a folktale operates in isolation. In many folktales, the hero is outcast from those around him because of social status, poverty, or a "deformity" such as that of the animal husband. This isolation is far from being unique to European tales but is reflected in tales from across many cultures. The orphan is the quintessential outcast, operates in isolation, and thus makes the perfect hero figure.

GENDER

Twenty-nine of the stories contain male orphan characters, seventeen have female orphans, and four have at least one of each. The breakdown of the orphan character by gender has significance because the ways in which orphans overcome obstacles in the stories are sometimes related to gender. In seven of the stories, the orphan uses wits to overcome obstacles; none of the orphans in these stories is female. The female orphans tend to overcome obstacles by their virtuous behavior rather than their cleverness. Also, female characters are rewarded by marriage more frequently than by any other means. While it is out of the scope of this article to delve deeply into gender issues, Appendix B shows some of the plot elements as they relate to gender. Further study of the orphan character and gender issues is warranted in the future.

CHARACTERS

The orphan hero or heroine faces the same conflicts, assistance, and rewards as any other folktale hero. There is usually a journey or quest of some sort that includes obstacles that must be overcome in order for the protagonist to win his or her reward (Thompson, 1946). However, analysis of the orphan stories reveals some distinct patterns. Character types, mistreatment of the orphan character, the quest upon which the orphan sets out, the obstacles put in his or her path, the methods employed to overcome the obstacles, and the final reward for the orphan are all common elements in these tales.

In forty-six of the fifty stories used for this study, the orphan character is the protagonist. In the other four, the orphan plays a secondary, but pivotal, role. For example, in The Obsession With Clothes, the story centers on Basia Gittel, the distant relative and employer of the orphan character. She is the person who mistreats the orphan girl but is also the one through whom the orphan triumphs and gains the reward of a husband and children. The pattern of the story does not vary despite the fact that the orphan character is a secondary one. The outcome for the orphan is the same as if she had been the main character; only the point of view differs.

HELPERS AND OTHER CHARACTERS

Luthi (1982) notes that no folktale hero or heroine is completely in charge of his or her own destiny but is assisted at precisely the right time by human or supernatural helpers. Every character has his or her function and, once that function is accomplished, the character usually disappears from the story line. The orphan interacts with other characters, some human, some animal, and some supernatural. They include siblings, godmothers, foster parents, step parents, employers, animal helpers, friends, grandparents, and spirits. Generally these characters exist for one of two purposes--either to help the orphan or to provide an obstacle for the orphan. There are no bystanders.

MISTREATMENT

The majority of the orphans in these tales are mistreated (Appendix B, Table 1). The mistreatment ranges from a simple tongue-lashing to physical abuse or the threat of death. It is not enough that the character be an orphan; his or her isolation must further be defined by hostility which, in many cases, stems from jealousy or from the fact that the orphan has something the other character wants. Some orphan boys are treated badly by their uncles (The Strongest Boy in the World and Coolnajoo, the Foolish One), and orphan heroines are often cruelly treated by their female relations (The Case Against the Wind; Yeh-Hsien; and The Prince and the Orphan). Other orphans are made to suffer by their neighbors (The Story of Bhikkhu Sok; Kautaluk; and The Girl in the Moon). One of the saddest openings of all the orphan tales in this study is found in the Cherokee tale The Orphan Boy and The Elk Dog. In addition to being orphaned, Long Arrow is deaf, and the only person in the world who loves him is his sister. When she is adopted by another tribe, he is completely ostracized by the other members of his group and eventually abandoned in the woods. Their abuse is mitigated when he manages to rejoin them (having miraculously regained his hearing on the journey) and is taken in by Good Running, an elder of the tribe, but the earlier image of his waking up and finding himself completely alone in the world is haunting even read alongside so many other stories of the abandoned and isolated.

QUESTS

The performance of difficult tasks or quests is frequent in folktales (Thompson, 1946). Thirty-three of the stories in this study include a journey for the main character or characters. The reasons for undertaking such quests include the need to find employment (Mannikin Spanalong), a desire for riches (Dick Whittington; The Dragon; and Sliced in Two), the need to find a place in the world (The Orphan and the Leper, and John the Bear), to avenge wrongs done to siblings (Quick-Witted; and The Jurga), to prove oneself to the tribe (The Orphan Boy and the Elk Dog), and to escape danger (John and Mary and The Story of Bhikkhou Sok). Sometimes the wandering seems to stem from the simple fact that the protagonist is suddenly orphaned. After his parents die, Julio says: "Now that there is nothing to keep me here, I shall wander.... I travel the trail of life in search of my destiny" (Aiken, 1980, p. 124).

The folktale hero must leave home in order to find that which is essential (Luthi, 1982). This wandering is made easier for the orphan characters because they often do not have a home. What the orphans seek, in fact, is a place to belong and the right to be there. In a typical coming of age tale, the hero or heroine seeks to break away from the family or group, to stand alone in the world as an individual. In a coming of age tale with an orphan hero or heroine, the protagonist seeks a sense of belonging, of finding an appropriate place in the world, of coming home. In the folktale, this homecoming may be quite literal as the hero or heroine marries royalty and goes to live in a palace. The difference between the ending of the orphan story and other folktales is that the orphan is not leaving the parents' home to become independent but finding a home after coming from nothing.(1)

OBSTACLES

The orphans in these tales come up against many obstacles in the pursuit of their quest. In most cases, other characters are the impediments. Jealousy and greed are prime motivators for these characters-as-obstacle:

   There lived once ... a proud and wicked woman. She was rich enough to
   afford anything she wanted, and yet her heart was filled with envy of
   anyone who was rich, contented, good-looking or young. If she saw someone
   in a happy mood, or heard of a true friendship, this was enough to arouse
   her bitterness and anger; indeed she was annoyed each time a poor person
   dared to smile. (Novak, 1970, p. 44)

Often it is the stepmother/stepsister/stepbrother who imposes extreme hardship on the hero or heroine, usually in the form of hard work, beatings, and lack of food (Wend'Yamba, The Market of the Dead, The Orphan and the Leper, Yeh-Hsien, Khavroshechka, The Prince and the Orphan, The Magic Drum). Sometimes it is a blood relative who causes problems (The Strongest Boy in the World; Coolnajoo, the Foolish One; The Obsession With Clothes; and The Little Orphan). Cruelty is not limited to relatives; employers can also be cruel (Yukiko and the Little Black Cat; Quick-Witted; and The Jurga).

In other stories, the danger is supernatural: either an evil sorcerer or witch (Foni and Fotia; Julio; Quick-Witted; Old Verlooka; and John and Mary), a monster (Qalutaligssuaq), or a bad spirit (The Skull). Less often it is the orphan's loneliness or extreme poverty that causes problems (The Orphan and the Leper; Spindle, Shuttle, and Needle; The Strongest Boy in the World; and Dick Whittington). The character becomes so overwhelmed by his situation that he wants to give up, perhaps even commit suicide.

SURMOUNTING OBSTACLES

Because orphans are without the natural protection of family, they must stand on their own to conquer their problems. As is common in folktales, assistance is always provided at the crucial moment and is often rendered by supernatural means in the form of magical human beings, talking animals, or enchanted inanimate objects. Luthi (1982) notes that, infolktales, such magical assistance is accepted without remark by the hero or heroine. No expression of astonishment is made when animals begin to talk, sorcerers appear, or ordinary objects run amok. These are simply taken for granted in the world of the folktale.

Supernatural assistance comes in many guises. Magic animals provide assistance for many characters (Yeh-Hsien; Khavroshechka; The Poor Turkey Girl; King Zargand's Daughter, Kenzuko Sudden Wealthy; and Yukiko and the Little Black Cat). Supernatural helpers can also come in the form of spirits disguised as mortals (The Prince and the Orphan; King Zargand's Daughter and Julio). The gods provide another means to help orphans (The Angekkok; Kautaluk; The Orphan Boy and the Elk Dogs; The First Tears; The Legend of The Chingolo Bird; and The Girl in the Moon). A very powerful supernatural ally is the spirit of the dead mother. When, In The Market of the Dead, the twin boys go to the underworld and tell their mother about their stepmother's cruelty, she gives them a poison palm nut which kills the stepmother after she eats it. Still other supernatural assistance takes inanimate form (Spindle, Shuttle and Needle; Mannikin Spanalong; and Old Verlooka) .

Supernatural help is not the only way that orphans surmount barriers. Sometimes the orphan uses his wits to outsmart his opponents (The Dragon; Sliced In Two; Qalutaligssuaq; Johnny and the Witch Maidens; Quick-Witted; Hans and His Master; and The Jurga). Some orphans prosper because of their virtue and kindness to others (The Prince and the Orphan; The Magic Drum; and Julio). Wend'Yamba is unfailingly good to his foster family even when they treat him badly. At the end of the story, he becomes a king:

   My countrymen, when our king died, you sent me out into the world, as is
   our custom, to comb even the smallest village in order to find a truly
   virtuous young man to be our next king. I found this young man. He is an
   orphan.... His patience is equaled only by his kind heart, and his heart is
   that of a king. (Guirma, 1971, p. 67)

Other orphans are hardworking, industrious, or brave (Dick Whittington; Mannikin Spanalong; and The Skull). In some cases this virtue is not explicitly stated but is observable as the orphan endures abuse without complaint (Yeh-Hsien; Khavroshechka; Little Berry; and The Wooden Bowl). Finally, some characters are assisted by means other than the supernatural, wits, or virtue. Bhikkhu Sok (The Story of Bhikkhu Sok) is rescued by various kindly people as he runs from the murderous villagers who killed his family, and Sehou in The Orphan and the Leper is encouraged by the faith of a leper. In order to punish Tosuke for his greed (Ooka and Tosuke's Tax), Ooka, the wise judge, orders him to open his home to orphans who have lost their orphanage in a storm. Basia Gittel's Obsession With Clothes leads her to wrongly punish her orphaned relative. When Basia is on her deathbed, she asks her husband to marry the orphan girl in order to atone for this abuse.

REWARDS

Almost half of the orphan characters in this study, twenty-four out of fifty, are rewarded by marriage, wealth, and power. Thirteen of the twenty-two female characters marry while eleven of twenty-eight male characters prosper by marriage. In some cases, usually in non-European stories, success is achieved not through money or marriage but rather with a position of respect or honor. Bhikkhu Sok (The Story of Bhikkhu Sok), for example, becomes a Buddhist priest, Oolak becomes The Angekkok (Holy One) for his tribe, and Ma Liang uses The Magic Brush, which makes whatever he paints come to life, to better the lot of poor people.

Other orphans are "rewarded" by being saved from monsters (Qalutaligssuaq; Old Verlooka; and Johnny and the Witch Maidens). The orphans in Ooka and Tosuke's Tax get to move to a new house complete with a set of parents and eventually "Tosuke's taxless house was the happiest in all Japan" (Edmonds, 1994, p. 44).

Yukiko (Yukiko and the Little Black Cat) and the orphan girl in Mannikin Spanalong earn money and prosper without marriage. The character Wend'Yamba, in the book by the same name, and Sagbo in The Magic Drum both become powerful rulers on their own merits rather than through marriage. Long Arrow in The Orphan Boy and the Elk Dog earns his people's respect when he brings them the mythical Elk Dogs (horses) stolen from the gods. Sabadis, in The Strongest Boy in the World, is taken to a lodge at the end of the sky where he can live with the sister the spirits have given him and where he will never be lonely again.

In three of the fifty stories, the orphan is unsuccessful or lives in an unchanged situation at the end of the story. Poor Turkey Girl; Coolnajoo the Foolish One; and The Orphan Boy are all examples of stories in which the protagonist doesn't win out over the obstacles. In all three stories, the reasons for a lack of success lie in the nature of the protagonist. The Poor Turkey Girl is given a chance for happiness as long as she leaves the dance at dawn in order to tend to her flock of turkeys who magically helped her. Her indifference to this request makes the turkeys abandon her, and at the end of the story she is left even more poverty stricken than before because now she has no livelihood at all. "If the poor be poor in heart and spirit as well as in appearance, how will they be anything but poor to the end of their days?" (Sierra, 1992, p. 127).

Coolnajoo, in Coolnajoo, the Foolish One, is angry because his uncles, who take advantage of him and make him do all the domestic work, believe he is foolish. To spite them, he behaves very foolishly indeed, but takes it too far and is almost destroyed before Glooscap intervenes and sends him and his uncles on their way with an admonition to behave less foolishly in the future.

In The Orphan Boy, Kileken, the orphan, is actually the planet Venus who comes down to earth to live with a lonely old man. During a severe drought, he is able to keep the old man's herd of cattle strong and healthy by taking them to the stars where the land is green and lush. His only admonition is that the old man must never follow him to find out where he goes with the herd. The old man, enticed by a spiteful shadow, is unable to resist temptation, and Kileken returns to the sky, leaving the old man alone. While these three stories serve as cautionary tales warning of dire consequences for lack of gratitude, excessive foolishness, and too much curiosity, most orphan tales end with the orphan in better condition than at the beginning of the tale, less lonely, usually rich, and often in a position of power.

(The remaining pages can be read here, http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1387/is_3_47/ai_54836352/pg_7 ," PUNISHMENT OF THOSE WHO OPPOSE ORPHANS")