Week 12 Reading Notes Extra Credit:Pacific NW Native American

Woodrat and Rabbits

a woodrat lived with its mother and five rabbits lived near by.  The woodrat starts a fight with one of the rabbits asking why it likes bitter leaves of cabbage over everything else.  The rabbit doesn't want a quarrel, but accuses the rat of being a thief.  They continue to argue until the rat catches the rabbit in a net and kills it with a stick.  He then does the exact same thing to the other four rabbits until all are dead.  The rat and its mom eat the rabbits and dance around a fire but they both accidentally catch fire and die.  The end.

Woodrat sourced via pixino

This story stood out to be because I realized it is one of the few stories I have ever read in this class where the bad guy wins.  While the rat does eventually die, it successfully killed all the rabbits, which I feel most readers would rather the rat die than the rabbits.  Now, this got me thinking of how strange it was to see the rat having such a good time after killing the rabbits.  It just goes to show just how much perspective matters and how the bad guy always has his own story.  I would love to write a story entirely given from the account of a bad guy and try to make the reader find sympathy and support for the bad guy even though they do bad things!

Bibliography:
Myths and Legends of the Pacific Northwest, especially of Washington and Oregon, by Katharine Berry Judson