Folktales are stories that begin within a culture and are typically passed on for hundreds of years by word of mouth (Dictionary.com, paragraph 1). Surprisingly, with the changing of times, hundreds of American folktales have survived the generations. People often told the tales to help the others understand and cope with the life they were living. Like most stories, a folktale contains characters, setting, plot, theme, style, and tone (Sweetland, paragraph 1-6). Set apart from traditional stories, folktales are a unique use of each of these elements.
As in any story, characters are an important part of a folktale; however, characters in folktales are usually flat, meaning they do not have depth within the tale, but the hero might have special abilities or powers (Sweetland, paragraph 1). Heroes are a main key to cultural folktales. They are always a reflection of their people (Leeming, pg. 99). Most heroes lead their people unselfishly. Some are adventurers, crime fighters, or people who are trying to prove themselves. A typical hero prefers the mystery and beauty of nature, adventure of the wilderness, and safety (Leeming, pg. 125).
In “Bandit, Cowboy, and Trooper: Chico Cano, Evans Means, and Captain Matlack,” Captain Matlack was tracking down a bandit named Chico Cano who stole and cheated people out of their money. Matlack heard a rumor that Chico had bedded down for the night, so Matlack gathered his men, sneaked up on them, and started to shoot. They surprised Chico so he had no time to put on his boots. He ran desperately to his horse and started to ride off when they shot Chico’s horse out from under him. Wounded by the impact when he hit the ground, he still ran barefoot through rocks and thorns to the hills to try to get away. Matlack chased him down, and shot him in the side. Chico was not hurt severely, but he was knocked to the ground. Matlack caught him, and turned him into the officials.
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In this tale, Matlack was a determined leader, and caught the man who was making trouble in the towns (Miles, pg. 117). In this tale, Matlack was the hero. There also was another tale with Matlack and Chico, where Chico was roping cattle, and he fell and was tangled in the ropes (Miles, pg. 185).
From the impact on the ground and from the cow pulling him down the pasture Chico was severely injured (Miles, pg. 185). If it were not for Matlack, Chico might have died. In this tale, Matlack was also the hero, and he was a very popular person because of the amazing deeds he did for his people. Other cultural heroes take the form of animals and are normally tricksters who live in the ancient mythic age (Leeming, pg. 99). “Brer Rabbit and the Tar Baby” is an example. In this tale, the fox is trying to catch the rabbit and kill him. He tricks the rabbit by trapping him in the tar, but the rabbit is smarter than the fox. Rabbit tricks Fox into thinking that throwing him into the briar patch would be worse than drowning, hanging, or roasting him. So, Fox throws Rabbit into the briar patch only to find out that is where Rabbit was born and raised. Rabbit escapes once again and Fox is angry.
Furthermore, the setting generally plays a large role in a folktale, as well. What makes a folktale setting different from other story settings is the region where the story originated, typically where the setting of the story takes place. In some Texas folktales, the main character is a cowboy living in a cabin, and he moves to live somewhere else, such as the folktale, “Pluto.” In this tale, a cowboy wants to move west like everyone else. This was when the westward expansion was taking place.
The next day they hitched a ride on his mules, and set off west to start a new life. Another example is “Davy Crockett and the Coonskin,” which originated in Tennessee and was set in the forest. Davy Crockett was buying the people drinks at the local bar because they were going to elect him. Davy had no money, so he went out in the woods and shot a raccoon, skinned it, and gave it to the bartender. He accepted it because coonskin was as valuable as money back then in that region.
The theme of a folktale is usually universal truths, lessons, and values related to people, their actions, and/or material goods valued by the group that created the folktale (Sweetland, paragraph 4). Theme is also the main point of the story. An example of this is “The Wampus Cat.” This story is about a half dog, half cat. This creature supposedly could pierce the hearts of souls (Schlosser, paragraph 1).
“Ghost on the Tracks” is another example of a tale with a theme. In this tale, there is a tired man driving a train on his night shift. He imagines he sees a ghost on the tracks, so he blows the horn to signal her to get off the tracks. He realizes that the lights are going right through her, so he realizes it is a ghost.
Another element of a folktale is the tone of the tale. Usually the tone of the story is good versus evil. The tone of a story shows the reflection of human strengths, frailties, weaknesses, or imperfections. Also because of the tone of a story, the reader is lead to new insights and/or understandings (Sweetland, paragraph 6). An example of a story with a scary or unsure-of-what-is-going-to-happen-next tone is “Army of the Dead.”
In this tale, a woman hears a strange noise going up and down her street, but she lives on a dead end. She was too scared to look out the window, so her husband told her it was all the Confederate soldiers who had died. They did not know the war was over, so they kept trying to get back to battle (Schlosser, paragraph 1).
As with any story, folktales involve many parts. The uniqueness of their characteristics is what draws people’s interest to them. Even though they were created so many years ago, they are timeless. Many of the tales have completely changed over the years, and are very different from the original stories, but they still exist. Many tales have been turned into picture books for families to read to their children. Keeping the story alive through a book may not be traditional, but it may be the only way to compete with the interests of children in today’s time.
