When
it comes to raccoons in literature, one of the things that I have become most
aware of is that they tend to get something of a bad rap. It’s somewhat rare to
see a raccoon in a heroic role and more common to see one in the role of a
dirty, good-for-nothing thief.
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| To be fair, we ARE good at it... |
As
I’ve thought about this, I’ve started to wonder what other animal stereotypes
there are in anthropomorphic animal media and why they exist. I’m less curious
about why they exist from a mechanical narrative perspective, as we’ve already
talked about how many writers present animal characters in ways to make them as
easily identifiable as possible. What I’m more curious about is what ‘inspires’
these stereotypes. I’ve long ago had to accept that having a built-in bandit
mask and gloves does NOT help the characters in the raccoon population nab the
role in the story of ‘honest hard-working citizen’.
Bah,
playing the scoundrel is way more fun anyways…
Anywho,
here are some major examples of these stereotypes that I’ve come to see in
literature.
Weasels: The granddaddy
of them all is right here. It’s even in our language to call somebody a weasel
when they lie, cheat, and steal. They get bonus points if they also have a
nasally laugh and shifty eyes. They also tend not to be the lead villains in
the story and more often the lackey. One of the clearest examples I’ve seen of
this is in Who Framed Roger Rabbit?
where there’s a gang of weasels that really just epitomize the stereotype. Of
course, that’s done for laughs and on purpose. In literature, it’s still pretty
common to have untrustworthy weasels. Redwall
is especially guilty of this, though it uses stoats and ferrets more than
weasels. Every member of the weasel family in a Redwall book is untrustworthy, cruel, and generally the villain’s
cannon fodder. Speaking of our favorite abbey…
Mice: I’ll admit that
I’ve no solid idea how mice got to become such renowned heroes in
anthropomorphic literature. I’ve heard many theories that seem sensible: Mice
are analogues to the weak peasants and common men and women who sought to rise
above the comparably massive and oppressive tyrants and nobility in their
kingdoms. Mice are capable of living in abysmal situations and making the most
of the least amount of resources imaginable. Mice and men have lived along one
another for ages, both being communal species and sharing homes, food, and
land, so mice have an innate connection to the everyman, who just so happens to
be a favored type of hero.
The
list goes on. The bottom line of it, though, is that mice perfectly embody one
of the most popular types of heroic narratives: the growing hero. Many stories,
especially epic fantasies, start with a protagonist who really is assumed to be
nothing special by all but a select few. He’s either too small, too skinny, too
fat, too young, or any number of other traits that folks just don’t think of
when they think of heroes. In the animal kingdom, there are few animals so
unassuming as a mouse. I think this really contributes to their role in popular
fiction. As for examples, there are so many that I doubt I even need to give
them. Mathias, Mrs. Frisby, Runaway Ralph, Mickey Mouse… It’s actually pretty
incredible.
If
you’d like to see a book that actually takes a fun look at how mice and heroes
are connected, give Margery Sharp’s The Rescuers a read. It’s interesting how much sense it makes.
Bears: If mice are
bold and heroic and weasels are evil and corrupt, then bears are our nice
middle ground of being slow and relatively simple-minded. There aren’t too many
bear heroes in literature, but there also aren’t too many bear villains. There
are quite a few bear bystanders, though! The interesting stereotype of bear
characters is that they often end up in the way while in pursuit of their
simple goals. These goals usually involve food, such as in the case of Winnie the Pooh, but they can also
involve just having a place to sleep. The reasons for authors depicting bears
in this fashion are pretty clear, as bears are known for being massive, hungry,
and hibernating during the winter, which surely must have terrified many an
early explorer looking for comfort in a warm cave. There a number of books in children’s
literature that depict bear characters lumbering about and trying to find a
good place to sleep, only to be interrupted for one reason or another.
Sometimes this results in the bear becoming something of a monster and
attacking the heroes, but usually it just ends with the bear being denied
whatever he wants at the time and lumbering off elsewhere to find it. While I
did mention Winnie the Pooh, the character in literature that I feel best
embodies this stereotype is the bear in C.S. Lewis’ The Last Battle. He’s described as a good and heroic
character, but even the other heroes describe him constantly with one word:
Simple.
Owls: The last on our
list for now fits the bill for the missing key narrative role we’ve not yet
touched on today: the wise old man. Owls and wisdom have been related since all
the way back in Greek Mythology, if not even earlier. I’ve read that the
reasons for this are related to both their nature and their appearance.
Nature-wise, owls are fascinating hunters because of their uncanny perception.
In the dead of night, an owl can sense a 3cm. long mouse running underneath
thick foliage 20 feet below its perch. They can then make their kill silently
and quickly, without any useless movements. Visually, an owl’s eyes are massive
and they’re known for being able to move their heads to see in all directions.
In short, owls are known for being all-seeing. Couple that with the fact that
mankind has long had a fascination with winged creatures and associated them
with spirits, and you have the perfect animal for a sage. The owl from Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH is the
first one that comes to my mind, but even the owls in Silverwing fit this theme, being around since seemingly the dawn of
time and having a commanding knowledge of the law, despite it perhaps being
unjust. The times in stories when mice are paired with owls in this role tend
to especially amuse me, as the mouse understandably seems amazed to not be
eaten. Of course, there are a number of mouse stories where owls DO terrorize
our heroic rodents.
There
are many more, of course, and just because they’re stereotypes does not mean
the characters are poorly written as much as they are somewhat traditional. If
any readers here have animal stereotypes that you’ve noticed, list your
favorites! It can be pretty fun to break down some of the core concepts of our
favorite genre sometimes.
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| What? I'm just following instructions! |
Until
next time, happy reading, all!
-Chammy
Currently Reading:
The Unlikely Ones by Mary Brown
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