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The Three Little Pigs: A Comparison Across Cultures

Decent Essays

One story that can be directly compared across cultures is The Three Little Pigs, originating in England, where it was first printed in the 1840s, but the story dates back much further. In the original English version, the first two little pigs are devoured by the big bad wolf, who is finally outwitted by the last pig who lures the wolf down the chimney into a pot of boiling water. The Japanese version, however, ends with the same fate for the wolf, but differs greatly in how the wolf reaches that fate. Unlike the English version where the third pig outwits the wolf on his own, the Japanese version tells of how the first two pigs escaped their flimsy homes and worked together with the third little pig to defeat the wolf. While the English …show more content…

This book views the Japanese folktale from a feminist standpoint, and rather than the main character being Momotaro, the story centers around Uriko-hime, the “melon princess”. Although the general storyline is the same as the original tale, author Sierra focuses more on the power of the female in her version. Instead of creating a sense of equality and respect between Uriko and her fellow warriors, Uriko is established as the leader of the force. When, for example, the group reach the land of the ogres and the ogres finally “saw Uriko and her miniscule companions, they laughed until their stomachs shook” (Sierra 18). As Uriko is only a young girl and her companions, such as the dog and monkey, are not particularly small in size, the use of the word “miniscule” implies that her companions are lesser in more ways than just mass. Compared to the ogres, the animals could be considered “miniscule,” but because Uriko is separated from this group, she is established as their leader, possessing more power and status, and is thus viewed as larger and more important than her companions. This minor change undermines one of the main goals of the original text – emphasizing the value of cooperation by showing that the group is more powerful than the

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