Fox and the grapes is one of the more well known of the Aesop’s Fables. The story illustrates the common tendency of people to speak unfavorably of thing that they are unable to get for themselves, although in reality they may like it. There are a few themes that fall under this fable, they might include jealousy, perseverance, failure, or even greed, but I believe as a reader the main theme of this fable is deceit. “Again and again he tried after the tempting morsel, but at last had to give it up, and walked away with his nose in the air, saying: “I am sure they are sour.
The plot of the story is that a fox tries to reach up to and eat grapes that he sees growing, but is unable to reach them because they are too high. Realizing that he cannot get the grapes, the fox gives up effort to reach the grapes, commenting that the gapes are sour, and therefor not worth eating. In this short story we see that the fox has attempted numerous times to get it’s paws on the grapes. The fable reads, “Drawing back a few paces, he took a run and a jump, and just missed the bunch.
Turning round again with a One, Two, Three, he jumped up, but with no greater success” demonstrating the fox’s persistence. If we apply this to today’s society, it becomes a perfect example of how people deal with their everyday lives. Think about it, most of us want things that we can’t have, therefore, when we do not achieve the goal of possessing those material things, we tend to become pompous and stuck up. We often come up with excuses for the reasons that we can’t have certain things. The fox shows this example when she says “I am sure they are sour anyway”.
Just like the fox, people come up with excuses that justifies their failure to keep going or keep working for something that they want. Now, lets look at the irony of this story. Isn’t it a worldwide fact, at least in stories, that foxes are clever and manipulative creatures? Doesn’t it surprise you that the fox in this story didn’t use some sort of clever scheme to get the grapes down? Well this is where I believe the main theme of this story comes in. Deceit. Though this may not apply directly to the story, I do believe this story was written to eceit the reader.
Many sit puzzled, trying to figure out what the main theme of this story is, when the main idea is sitting right behind the lines. On the other hand, how do you convince those who don’t side with you? Well the answer is simple. Fox, like any other person would, fought for something that she wanted. Regardless the efforts, the fox eventually gave up. Notice how at the end of the story though the fox tried to walk away as though it was still prideful? Well that is the same pride that exists in all of us.
We never want to be put down or told that we have failed. We always try to walk away with dignity and pride and leaving everyone knowing that we have done our best and that the reason something didn’t work out is because that is the way it was supposed to be in the first place. We are no different from the fox, in fact, inside of us all lives a little fox that will do anything possible to get what we want, and in failures we leave everyone else believing that that was our intention all along. We all want to succeed. We all want to gain respect. We are all animals.
