Fables and Short Stories. the Fox and the Grape vs. a Pair of Tickets

Reading Fables and Short Stories Fables, parables and short stories all tell a story and all try to relay a meaningful message or moral. Fables tend to be shorter, use animals and clearly state the moral the author is trying to portray. Parables also tell a story and portray a message, but it basically illustrates a moral or religious lesson. Therefore, I guess it is safe to say that all parables can be fables but not all fables can be a parable. Short stories however tend to be a lot longer than a fable or parable and also use a lot of literary elements. These elements are plot, settings, point of view, characters, dialogue and others. In this essay, I will be talking about Aesop’s fable, “The Fox and the Grapes” and Amy Tan’s short story, “A Pair of Tickets.” I will try to explain the morals for each story and how the author portrays these morals. Aesop’s fable, “The Fox and the Grapes,” is a very short fable with a really big moral. It is simply a story about a famished fox trying to find food. He finally stumbles upon ripe grapes. However, instead of complaining that they are out of his reach, he concludes that they were inadequate and not good for eating. The reason this fable catches my attention is because I am amazed on how Aesop can put such an important moral in the fable by using a fox and grapes. Also, the fable is so short but also has such a big meaning. I believe there are many morals in the stories, such as, you can’t always get what you want. However, the main moral of this story, which is very clearly stated, is, “it is easy to despise what you can’t get” (Aesop 7). Since this fable is so short and has such a powerful moral, it is very easy to remember, making it very easy to retell. This fable also has such a hysterical plot twist and this is what makes it a great fable. The fox is supposedly so hungry but when he can’t reach the grapes, he all of a sudden is not hungry anymore and does not find the grapes appealing. This is