Once upon time, there was Br’er Rabbit, Br’er Fox, Brer Bear, and a Tar-baby doll. Brer Rabit was a cute lil fellow who tried to avoid Brer Fox twel he could no longer avoid him anymore. Brer Fox was foxy and always wanted to set a trap for Brer Rabit with the help of Brer Bear. So, Brer Fox had to invent the tar baby to make sure he gets Brer Rabbit in the grips of ‘is hands. Brer Fox puts the tar baby in Brer Rabbit’s way, so when Rabbit comes he, out of naivety, thinks that tar doll is a living being and that its avoiding him while he being a “respectubble folk” should not be avoided and should be respected. So, Brer Rabbit starts hitting and punching the tar doll to show her a lesson. Brer Fox rolls on the ground and burst in laughter till his tears fall
Harris’ tales from Uncle Remus, on the surface, are truly very adorable and cute stories narrated in the most sweet and spontaneous manner. Nevertheless, the tales are claimed by many critics to be more profound and deliberate as they discuss issues of slavery and the superiority of the whites in the post American Civil War. The animals are believed to be representatives of the whites and the blacks, implying the possibility of the rise of the weaker over the stronger. The weaker by nature, Brer Rabbit obtains triumph by his mental abilities and outsmarts the stronger Brer Fox. I’m not quite sure whether Harris intended this meaning or not but literary texts can bear astonishing interpretations, that the author himself would be at wonder that how did people come up with such ideas! Regardless of whether Harris meant to tell us such and such, the stories are great and most entertaining. Even Walt Disney based one of his very first cartoons on the tales of uncle Remus and the other characters. And most of all, Harris did leave us a message for all the people of all racial backgrounds; a moral lesson in social order, human respect, self-trust and faith.
Harris’s use of the language and dialects of the “old south” negro slaves in his tales rendered them more credibility and the essence of those crucial times. The atmosphere is very warm and intimate as we imagine the little boy listening to uncle Remus narrating those unbelievably astonishing stories about animals that are personified in a beautiful and humorous manner.
The use of animalistic characters is something known, though quite uncommon in literature. I assume that such literatures are not widespread and used much because they are simply not very easy to acquire. Fables require great, vast and creative imagination on the part of the author, otherwise the work would turn out very weak and fragile. Fables are usually funny and imply a moral behind the story they depict. Kalila and Demna is a very famous work written originally in Persian (to what I know) and translated into Arabic soon after, became a very prominent work among the literary fields. Also Ben Johnson’s play, “Volpone”, uses animal characteristics and names on human characters in order to expose the traits of his characters. And again, the tone of the whole play throughout is sarcastic and humorous. Thus, personifying animals in literature proves to be a very powerful and possessing genre. Another shockingly powerful example, is Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Raven”. as the role which the raven plays in this astonishing poem is very significant as a title and also an essential element throughout. The raven actually does not appear from the beginning of the poem. He appears near the middle. However, Poe’s utilization of the raven and making him an annoyingly speaking raven, lends the poem a literal power beyond description. In fact, mentioning the name of the raven alone, would create a gloomy and creepy setting to the whole poem.
But did Haris imply social or political issues behind his representation of Brer Fox and Brer Rabbit, Specially that the major character, Uncle Remus is a black man? Being a man of a very shy nature, this might be true as he would feel more safe to hide behind his humorous fictive characters, and making them ‘animalistic’ would further distance him from rumors that he intended such and such and would better hide him behind an apparently innocent representation. Nothing would be definite for critics or readers! But a social reading would most probably consider Brer Fox as a symbol to the greediness of the white man, while Brer Rabbit represents the innocence of the black people, against whom racial discrimination was at peak and on the surface.
Though Harris might have written these tales or fables for mere entertainment, still being a journalist and a member of his society, he could not escape the problems around him. Such racial, social or political interpretations can prove right to Harris’s representation while taking in consideration that such underlying agenda have only occurred through the processes of his subconscious.
