Fairy Tales, Parables, Fables & Allegories

We are getting ready to read Animal Farm by George Orwell. Yesterday/last night you read about Orwell in his bio.

Now you have the book in front of you. You will notice that it is subtitled a “fairy story.”

What does that mean?

A “Fairy Story” is the same thing as a fairy tale.

Can you name any fairy tales you know? Turn to your neighbor and take one minute to discuss. Write down as many as you can.

The fairy story, or fairy tale, is a type of folk literature found all over the world. It involves a highly imaginative narrative told in a simple manner easily understood and enjoyed even by children. While they do not have a moral, fairy tales instruct by placing their characters in situations that they have to overcome; children who hear the tales can imagine what they would do in a similar situation. Fairy tales, also, often involve animals that can talk. Orwell gave his work the subtitle "A Fairy Story." The reader can surmise that the story told in Animal Farm is universal, with implications for every culture or country, and that it will be easily understood. Using "fairy story" to describe his novel is another bit of irony, because the political story behind the tale is far from the light entertainment the term implies.

http://www.answers.com/topic/animal-farm-novel-4

The Massachusetts English Language Arts Curriculum Frameworks, however, describe a fairy tale as “A story written for, or told to, children that includes elements of magic and magical folk such as fairies, elves or goblins. (110)

Which as you will see doesn’t really sound like it would apply to Animal Farm.

Massachusetts English Language Arts Framework June, 2001

In common parlance, a parable is a story or short narrative designed to reveal allegorically some religious principle, moral lesson, psychological reality, or general truth. Rather than using abstract discussion, a parable always teaches by comparison with real or literal occurrences--especially "homey" everyday occurrences a wide number of people can relate to.

Well-known examples of parables include those found in the synoptic Gospels, such as "The Prodigal Son" and "The Good Samaritan." In some Gospel versions, the parables are announced with the phrase, "The Kingdom of God is like . . . ."

Technically speaking, biblical "parables" were originally examples of a Hebrew genre called meshalim (singular mashal), a word lacking a counter-part in Greek, Latin or English. Meshalim in Hebrew refer to "mysterious speech," i.e., spiritual riddles or enigmas the speaker couches in story-form.

http://web.cn.edu/KWHEELER/documents/Parable_Allegory.pdf

A Fable is a short, simple story that teaches a lesson. A fable usually includes animals that talk and act like people (Massachusetts English Language Arts Framework 110).

Hmmm, this sound more like Animal Farm.

Have you ever heard of Aesop’s Fables?

Massachusetts English Language Arts Framework June, 2001

What did these fables have in common?

Take one minute to think of (and write down) all the commonalities among these three stories.

An allegory involves using many interconnected symbols or allegorical figures in such as way that in nearly every element of the narrative has a meaning beyond the literal level, i.e., everything in the narrative is a symbol that relates to other symbols within the story.

The allegorical story, poem, or play can be read either literally or as a symbolic statement about a political, spiritual, or psychological truth.

The word allegory derives from the Greek allegoria ("speaking otherwise"): The term loosely describes any story in verse or prose that has a double meaning. This narrative acts as an extended metaphor in which the plot or events reveal a meaning beyond what occurs in the text, creating a moral, spiritual, or even political meaning. The act of interpreting a story as if each object in it had an allegorical meaning is called allegoresis.

http://web.cn.edu/KWHEELER/documents/Parable_Allegory.pdf

Is Animal Farm a Parable? A fable? A Fairy Tale? An Allegory?

After reading the story we must ask ourselves these same questions. How do you define this story?