Trickster Tales Ed. by Matt Dembicki

 In the story of Raven the Trickster by John Active the raven was a cynical trickster who enjoyed to cause mischief when ever he may. When we see the Raven finally getting what he truly dissevered (getting eaten by the whale) he some how escapes from his demise. After this I really thought the Raven had learned his lesson but surprisingly he yet again caused more mischief. He managed to formulate a compelling story on how the whale meat was 'evil' in a sense. Because of this the butcher's fled the scene, leaving all the blubber for Raven. The ending on the story surprised me because usually folktales like these (even if its a graphic novel) contain a respectable moral but this one has something else entirely! I did not enjoy the ending because of this fact and feel like a moral so untrue and misleading should not be spread through any means especially to children. In the second folktale The Wolf and the Mink  by Elaine Grinnell the moral is actually one that I feel is valuable to any and all age groups all of the world. A Mink works hard to get fish for a meal and ends up boasting about this. His friend the Wolf stops by and in Native American tradition one must give half of what he/she is eating to his/her guest. Not wanting to share the Mink did not eat his food. the mink fell asleep and the Wolf ate the fish. The Wolf, who was very wise, created evidence that showed that the Mink ate the fish and not the Wolf. The Mink woke up believing he had eaten the fish. This shows that trickery, haughtiness, and not wanting to share will only back fire. It teaches us that the only to gain is to give.