Reading Diary A: Brer Rabbit

Here are my favorites from the Brer Rabbit unit:

The Calamus Foot: This is the first story in the unit and it really sets the tone for how the rest of the first half plays out. Brer Fox tries his hardest to catch Brer Rabbit so that he can eat him, but Brer Rabbit outsmarts him like he always does. Brer Fox tries to cook up plans to trick Brer Rabbit, but they hardly ever work. And even when they do work, he still manages to let Brer Rabbit get away. I like Brer Rabbit because he's clever and he's self-described as sassy. I also think it's interesting how, in these stories, the fox is the one who is always outwitted whereas in most other storytelling traditions, the fox is usually the clever, sly one.

How Mr. Rabbit for too Smart for Mr. Fox: Remember how I said Brer Fox's plans don't work out even when they do? This is what I was talking about. He manages to get Brer Rabbit caught on a "tar-baby" (basically a doll covered in tar). This should be the end of Brer Rabbit, right? He should just stick him over the fire and be done with it. But Brer Rabbit is very clever. He convinces Brer Fox to throw him into the brier patch by asking him to do anything but that, using a bit of reverse psychology. Of course, Brer Fox wants to stick it to Brer Rabbit real good for all the trouble he caused him so he does what he thinks is the worse thing he could do to him. Brer Rabbit ends up getting away and Brer Fox is left empty-handed and disappointed like always. The picture below is from this story, but this is how I imagine Brer Fox looks at the end of most of the stories.

Mr. Fox outwitted again
(Illustration by A.B. Frost)

How Mr. Fox is Outdone by Mr. Buzzard: It's not just Brer Rabbit who gets the best of Brer Fox in these stories. Brer Fox had enlisted Brer Buzzard's help in catching Brer Rabbit, thinking he had caught him sleeping in a tree trunk. When it turns out he isn't there, Brer Fox turns on Brer Buzzard and catches him by the neck. It seems like it should be another easy win for Brer Fox; he just needs to take the ax he was using to fell the tree to chop Brer Buzzard's neck (I know that's violent, but this is something a typical villain would do). But, of course, that's not what Brer Fox does. After Brer Buzzard begs for a while, Brer Fox decides to grab him by the tail feathers before finishing him off. The tail feathers come right off and Brer Fox can't do anything but watch as another one gets away.

Mr. Wolf Makes a Failure: In this story, Brer Fox gets some help from Brer Wolf. The wolf in literature is another character that is often portrayed as clever or cunning. Two heads are supposed to be better than one, but Brer Rabbit still manages to outsmart both the antagonists in this tale. Really, it's mostly Brer Fox's fault. Brer Wolf's plan had worked perfectly: Brer Rabbit went to Brer Fox's house to see if he was really dead or not. Brer Wolf had told Brer Fox not to move at all until Brer Rabbit came up to put a hand on him, but the rabbit tricked him into moving by saying that real dead people kick their foot and make a noise. Brer Fox does exactly what Brer Rabbit says and the rabbit gets his tail out of there as fast as he can. If he had just followed Brer Wolfs's instructions, Brer Rabbit might have really believed the fox was dead and might have been caught for good. Not that I'm rooting for Brer Fox, it just seems to me that the title is incorrect; the fox was the one who failed, not the wolf.