Candice McCarty
Professor Morgan Peters
English 200-08
December 15, 2011
Dogs and Cats are natural born enemies; this is true in every culture, every story, and every cartoon story. Dogs and Cats were just not meant to be on the same side. In an old Virginian Tale by S.E. Schlosser, Why Dogs Chase Cats the reason why they hate each other is told in a comical and symbolic way. Here Dog and Cat are married, and every night Dog is told by his wife that she is too sick to make dinner. One day Dog gets suspicious of his wife’s behavior and hides in the house to watch what she does with her daily routine.
When Cat thinks that Dog has left, she plays with Kitten all day long and doesn’t seem the least bit sick, when Dog reveals himself to Cat, she sticks marbles in her mouth and pretends to have a toothache, and Dog becomes so mad that he chases her around, a chase that is still going on to this day.
Not only does this story give a comical way of showing why these animals are always chasing each other, but it does represent some important marriage issues in humans. The man goes to work, while the wife stays at home and cleans; then he comes home and expects dinner. Also when the wife is home all day, the husband is left to sit and become suspicious over what his wife does all day while at home. It depicts all the human characteristics of marriage.
Now who is to say that this is meant for the meaning behind the story, but in a way it is a story in itself, it entertains, it explains a lesson, it has a purpose, so I say it does its job right. Folklore is meant for animals to take on human characteristics and this story does nothing else but that. It tells a story, it has a lesson to be learned, and the characters are well defined and serve a purpose.
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