Research Essay 01

ENG 308 T/Th 4pm

Michael Briones

Animals have been used in fiction for a long time, and I believe their
presence in literature will always occur.

In early literature, back when a

snake would influence Eve in the bible, to tomorrow where a talking raccoon
with a gun will be used in a major motion picture, animals have been an
important part of our literary needs. Talking animals can be used to help the
development of a human character, they can be used be used as a different
point of view for readers, and they will still relate to children in the 21 st
century.
An example of using talking animals to help human characters develop
would be the story we read in class, The Jungle Book. In this story, the main
character Mowgli is raised by a pack of wolves. A female wolf convinces her
mate to adopt young Mowgli into their pack. Mowgli then learns about pack
mentality; he believes himself to be a wolf, loves his wolf brothers and
parents, and learns the rules of the pack. He learns how to socialize among
the wolves by his new found family, and then his friends.
The friends he makes in the story are not all wolves. He is assisted in
the story by other animals such as a Bagheera the Panther, Baloo the Bear,
and Kaa the Rock Python.

Each bring Mowgli new knowledge; Bagheera

teaches him how to climb, Baloo teaches him all the laws of the jungle, and
Kaa teaches about repaying debts. As Mowgli is the main character of this
story, you see him raised from a young toddler, to a curious and egotistical
child, and finally he becomes a confident and well adaptive character able to

Research Essay 01

ENG 308 T/Th 4pm

take care of himself, family, and friends.

Michael Briones

The animals helped Mowgli

developed to a stage of adulthood by the end of the story.

Animals can be also used to see a different point of view, one that
would not normally be seen through the eyes of a human character. Because
they can see things from another perspective than a human, they give the
reader a feel for what effects we human bring to them, or what we may do to
the world we live in. As again, with Mowgli, humans would not consider the
damage of what they would cause to an animal habitat by simply moving
into a forest.

The humans would also not consider what happens to the

animals when they remove trees to set up houses.

By viewing humans

through the eyes of an animal, children can be affected in developmental

stages.
In The Jungle Book, the wolves know they must not hunt near human
villages. If they hunt the livestock of humans, they may incur the wrath of
the humans.

These humans will send hunters to track down, and kill the

wolves. The reader now sees a new perspective of humans thru the eyes of
Mowgli and the wolves.

The humans who believe they are simply living

normal lives are causing dismay and disturbance to those animals of the
wild.

What appears to be survival, and a normal expansion of human

habitat, now appears to be almost malicious to the reader.

Children,

hopefully as they grow up, will learn that their decisions now have greater

Research Essay 01

ENG 308 T/Th 4pm

Michael Briones

effect on the world at large. This will help them direct their future decisions
in life.
I believe children will still be able to relate to animals far into the 21 st
century as the appeal of talking animals will only continue to increase. Even
though children do not have as much real contact with animals outside of
normal house pets (dogs, cats, fish, etc.,), I believe this is what will make
them even more drawn to animals in literature. The lack of being exposed to
wild animals makes them rare and appealing to kids; this will entice kids to
read more about the animal they know so little about yet admire so much.
Earlier I mentioned a talking raccoon with a gun in a major motion
picture. The raccoon is named Rocket Raccoon; an upcoming superhero in
the movie Guardians of the Galaxy. This character comes from a group of
superheroes in the Marvel Universe that has been under utilized as of late.
But, now that this movie is being slated for release in August, Rocket
Raccoon has garnered an undeniable amount of popularity pitting him with
some of comics top gritty, and popular superheroes such as Wolverine and
Batman.
Generally, it doesnt take an animal with a bad attitude to keep a
childs attention, or to have children relate. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles has
been an excellent source of talking animals with four various personalities;
each of which have helped identify themselves the majority of children. I
personally identify myself with Leonardo; I tend to take leadership of

Research Essay 01

ENG 308 T/Th 4pm

Michael Briones

different projects or groups, I worry constantly of my actions against others

in my teams, and I do strive to better myself in all that I believe in.
Characters such as Leonardo has helped shaped me in my developmental
stages of life.
I cant see how animals would not be included in literature anymore,
nor can I see how they wouldnt have a last effect in the lives of so many
children. We use animals in all forms of media, be it books or tv, to first gain
the attention of a child, and then to open their minds to new possibilities,
new thoughts, and new perspectives. And even as children grow to be more
apart from nature, and more into the technological world, it will be those
defining moments reading or watching talking animals that will help them
develop as they grow older for many, many generations to come.