Summary Of How Stories Came To Earth And Coyote Steals Fire
“Coyote won the game and so I gave him the fire. But he cheated, and for that I shall take his life.” This was said by Thunder-god in the short story “Coyote Steals Fire” when Coyote cheated in the game against the fire. This tale as well as “How Stories Came to Earth” are trickster tales, meaning the main character plays tricks on others to achieve their goal. These tales are told as oral folktales involving tricksters. Both of these stories are similar to one another due to them being tricksters, but are also different.
In “How Stories Came to Earth” and “Coyote Steals Fire” many similarities are shown in their tales. The first similarity between the two is the anthropomorphism that is used. Both stories have animals as their main characters
with human like qualities. In “How Stories Came to Earth” Anansi has a wife and is smart from his ideas. Then with Coyote in “Coyote Steals Fire” knows how to gamble and is also smart due to his ideas. Secondly they both have god figures in their stories. Anansi in “How Stories Came to Earth” looks up to a sky-god named Nyami who he completes his goals for. In “Coyote Steals Fire” the god is named Thunder-god and Coyote also uses him for his goal. The third similarity is that their got what they wanted out of their goals. Anansi retrieves the gods stories by capturing the animals the god requests from him. And Coyote wants the fire from Thunder-god, which he receives by winning the game against him. Then the last similarity is their goals both turn out to benefit society. After Anansi completed his goal the gods stories were shared with everyone. When Coyote retrieves the fire from Thunder-god it is shared among everyone. Though with all these similarities there are also differences among the two tales. There are many differences between “How Stories Came to Earth” and “Coyote Steals Fire”. One of the differences is that although they both had gods they treat Anansi and Coyote different. Nyami disbelieves Anansi and his abilities, but after Anansi proves his skills he is willing to share his stories with him and the others. Thunder-god on the other hand despises Coyote and becomes so angry at him that he wants to kill him. There is also a difference in how they complete their goals. Anansi captures animals for the sky-god in hopes he’ll retrieve his stories. And Coyote has to play a game against Thunder-god, and ends up cheating to receive the fire. The roles of women are viewed differently as well. In “How Stories Came to Earth” women are valued equal to the men. Then in “Coyote Steals Fire” men have more power and the women are valued less. Lastly the way they show anthropomorphism is different. Coyote is a smart character who like to gamble. While Anansi has a wife named Aso who helps him come up with ways to catch the animals. “How Stories Came to Earth” and “Coyote Steals Fire” were very similar but \ there were some differences. Imagine if Anansi were to have captured the animals to receive the stories, and were to tell them differently.
In “How Stories Came to Earth” and “Coyote Steals Fire” many similarities are shown in their tales. The first similarity between the two is the anthropomorphism that is used. Both stories have animals as their main characters
with human like qualities. In “How Stories Came to Earth” Anansi has a wife and is smart from his ideas. Then with Coyote in “Coyote Steals Fire” knows how to gamble and is also smart due to his ideas. Secondly they both have god figures in their stories. Anansi in “How Stories Came to Earth” looks up to a sky-god named Nyami who he completes his goals for. In “Coyote Steals Fire” the god is named Thunder-god and Coyote also uses him for his goal. The third similarity is that their got what they wanted out of their goals. Anansi retrieves the gods stories by capturing the animals the god requests from him. And Coyote wants the fire from Thunder-god, which he receives by winning the game against him. Then the last similarity is their goals both turn out to benefit society. After Anansi completed his goal the gods stories were shared with everyone. When Coyote retrieves the fire from Thunder-god it is shared among everyone. Though with all these similarities there are also differences among the two tales. There are many differences between “How Stories Came to Earth” and “Coyote Steals Fire”. One of the differences is that although they both had gods they treat Anansi and Coyote different. Nyami disbelieves Anansi and his abilities, but after Anansi proves his skills he is willing to share his stories with him and the others. Thunder-god on the other hand despises Coyote and becomes so angry at him that he wants to kill him. There is also a difference in how they complete their goals. Anansi captures animals for the sky-god in hopes he’ll retrieve his stories. And Coyote has to play a game against Thunder-god, and ends up cheating to receive the fire. The roles of women are viewed differently as well. In “How Stories Came to Earth” women are valued equal to the men. Then in “Coyote Steals Fire” men have more power and the women are valued less. Lastly the way they show anthropomorphism is different. Coyote is a smart character who like to gamble. While Anansi has a wife named Aso who helps him come up with ways to catch the animals. “How Stories Came to Earth” and “Coyote Steals Fire” were very similar but \ there were some differences. Imagine if Anansi were to have captured the animals to receive the stories, and were to tell them differently.