What point does the folktale make about people who have power over others?
- Yuying
- Apr 13
- 7 min read
Abstract
Folklore is a genre of literature that tells fictional stories or myths, often including a heroic main character facing an antagonist or challenge. Through different events that happen in the story, readers are taught a certain moral or theme. Folktales include some of the most famous and iconic stories, such as Little Red Riding Hood, The Little Mermaid, One Thousand and One Nights, and much more. The Wise Old Woman, a folktale retold by Yoshika Uchida, shows the importance of respecting and listening to advice given by the elders. At the start of this folktale, it is said that an unnamed lord controlling a western village in Japan had made a decree to exile all elders over 71 years. The incredible power of this lord shows how even though some people may be wrong with their decisions, they may have the power to influence many. Once Lord Higa, the main antagonist, is introduced to the story, the influence of powerful people is emphasized once again. In folklore, status, and power are the key factors in affecting one's control and impact over a certain number of people.
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The Wise Old Woman, a folktale retold by Yoshika Uchida, starts by introducing an unnamed lord in the western hills of Japan, who has just made a decree to exile all elders over the age of 71, due to his distaste for old people. Gradually, the population of elderly people in the village soon started to diminish. A farmer's mother had reached the age of 71 years and would have to be exiled. Not bearing to abandon his mother, the farmer dug out a secret room in his house and hid his mother for two years. One day, Lord Higa, a strong persona from the town beyond the hills, came with three impossible requests, including: making a thousand ropes made from ash, threading string through a narrow hole full of twists and turns, and making a drum that could sound without being beaten. If the village wasn't able to complete them, Lord Higa would conquer the village. All the wise men of the village were unable to think of a solution, but the farmer's mother easily told him all the answers to these questions. After Lord Higa had gone, the lord praised the farmer for his intelligence. The farmer confessed his sin of hiding his mother, and how she was the one who solved the question, earning the lord's respect. From then on, the decree was no longer in action, and all the elders were honored and respected.
The amount of power and social class one belongs in can greatly determine how others treat them. This situation is often seen in folklore and English literature, where people of different social statuses are treated completely differently. For instance, in The Wise Old Woman, the lord ruling over the western hills of Japan was listened to obediently by all the villagers, even though the decree he made was absurd and foolish, as seen by the villagers’ mutual reaction: “‘What a dreadful decree! What a cruel and unreasonable lord we have,’ the people of the village murmured.” (Uchida, 3). Even though everyone knew how foolish and dreadful his rule was, no one dared to go against it, as the lord had enough power to punish anyone who disobeyed his decree. On the other hand, the elders of the village are unheard by society and mistreated. They were underestimated and ignored by the arrogant lord, and they were unable to do anything because they had no power to make their own decisions about the decree. Even though the elders were wise and experienced, they were still ignored by the majority of the society. In some of the most notable folktales, such as Cinderella, a similar case is portrayed. Cinderella was mistreated by her stepmother and stepsisters and was ignored by most of the people outside of their household. However, the protagonist’s stepmother was obeyed and listened to by the people in their family, making the protagonist helpless. Similarly, in The Emperor’s New Clothes, when the emperor wore nothing in public, no one dared to say anything about it, for fear of seeming disrespectful or stupid. “Nobody wanted to be detected seeing nothing: that would mean that he was no good at his job, or that he was very stupid.” (Anderson, 16). While some powerful leaders are respected by obedient followers oftentimes, people with less power and status are unheard of or mistreated.
Throughout the events of multiple folktales, the readers may infer that one of the morals would be to use one’s power wisely and sensibly. For instance, in The Wise Old Woman, the unnamed lord ruling over the western hills of Japan made a decree that would ban all elders who were seventy-one years or above; these elders were forced to leave the village and were left in the mountains to die. As shown in the folktale, the lord’s decree was: “I therefore decree that anyone over seventy-one must be banished from the village and left in the mountains to die.” (Uchida, 2). Later, however, when the lord realized that an elderly woman was the person to solve all of the impossible tasks given by Lord Higa, he learned from his mistakes and stopped his decree. The story highlights how many powerful yet arrogant figures similar to the lord make foolish decisions, showing their haughtiness and short-sightedness. Oftentimes, other people's actions are underestimated and ignored by the more powerful, as they only value their current problems. A notable Chinese fable, The Foolish Old Man Removes the Mountains, narrates the story of an old man in his nineties, who sets off on a dangerous and risky expedition, to remove a mountain and create a path to travel between them. Many people from the younger generation could not understand his actions of doing so, as he most likely wouldn’t even live to complete this expedition. However, the old man replied, saying that while he himself might not benefit from this action, the people from the younger generation would. The title, “The Foolish Old Man Removes the Mountains”, is ironic, because while outsiders view him as a ‘foolish old man’, he, in reality, is only caring for other, younger people. Similarly, rulers such as the lord in The Wise Old Man are too prideful of themselves to notice the actions of others or to realize their own stupidity in using their power unwisely.
While power can indicate one’s strength and social status, it can also make people haughty and unaware of their surrounding people. Many powerful rulers, especially those portrayed in folktales or fictional stories, are too focused on their own problems to care about other people’s opinions and thoughts. A similar case is depicted in The Wise Old Woman, where the lord is too caught up in his admiration of his own power and a ‘healthy’ society rid of old people that he doesn’t realize the wiseness of elders. The lord believed that old people were neither useful nor able to work for a living. It was only until the elderly actually were of use and contributed to his kingdom did the lord finally realized his foolishness and arrogance.. Even though power can represent an individual or group’s strength, it can also make them short-sighted and see only their personal problems. In many folktales, powerful rulers like these don’t particularly care about the living conditions and opinions of their followers. This situation is similar in King Lear, a tragedy by William Shakespeare, which is not particularly a folktale, but can be seen as a literary version of a folktale nevertheless. In The Tragedy of King Lear, King Lear of Britain had separated his inheritance and properties for his two eldest daughters, as he favored them. However, he disinherited the youngest daughter, although she was the one who truly loved him and didn’t see him only as an opportunity for wealth. “Here I disclaim all my paternal care, / Propinquity and property of blood, / And as a stranger to my heart and me / Hold thee from this forever.” (Shakespeare, 1.1.). King Lear’s short-sightedness prevented him from realizing that Cordelia, his youngest daughter, was the only one who truly loved him, although she wasn’t able to flatter him enough with her words.
Although some characters may hold a large amount of power over others, their power shouldn’t be used only for their own personal good in short-term situations.
The Wise Old Woman recalls the story of a farmer, who lived in a village in the western hills of Japan. Due to a decree made by the lord, everyone must abandon all elders over seventy-one years old, but the farmer decided to keep his mother in a secret hiding room instead. Once Lord Higa, a powerful ruler, came to the village coming up with three impossible requests, the farmer’s mother was the only one wise enough to come up with the solutions, therefore winning the lord’s favor, who then stopped the decree. Within this folktale and many other fictional stories, power is seen as a key factor determining how other people treat an individual. For instance, in The Wise Old Woman, the lord ruling over the western hills of Japan was listened to obediently by all the villagers, even though the decree he made was absurd and foolish. On the other hand, other people's actions are underestimated and ignored by the more powerful, as the powerful only value their current problems. Many folktales deliver the moral of using one’s power wisely, as shown in The Wise Old Man, where the lord was proven wrong after he declared his absurd decree. The lord was so caught up in his admiration of his own power and a ‘healthy’ society rid of old people that he didn’t realize the wiseness of elders. While an individual’s power can publicly portray their strength, it can also lead to haughtiness and short-sightedness.
Works Cited
Uchida, Yoshiko. “The Wise Old Woman”, studocu
Andersen, Hans. “The Emperor’s New Clothes”, project Gutenberg
Mao, Tse-Tung. “The Foolish Old Man Removes the Mountains”, marxists
Shakespeare, William. “The Tragedy of King Lear”, project Gutenberg
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