Br’er Rabbit

Br’er Rabbit was my hero when I was a child, and even now, whenever I pass a briar patch I think of him. I no longer have my childhood book but I can remember some of the illustrations so clearly! I’m not sure if Br’er Rabbit is still a character children know but I think they are missing out; the idea of using wits an guile to outwit the enemy must be a useful lesson! The stories are told by Uncle Remus, to a small child who sometimes interrupts to ask questions. The stories have other animal characters such as Br’er Fox and Br’er Wolf, and it is usually Br’er Fox who is trying to catch Br’er Rabbit and is then outwitted by him.

The briar patch story is perhaps the most famous; in an effort to catch Br’er Rabbit, his enemy,  Br’er Fox makes a Tar Baby, a rag doll covered in tar which he leaves out for Br’er Rabbit to find. Br’errabbit is a curious creature and when the Tar Baby doesn’t respond to his conversation he touches him and of course gets stuck, the more he struggles and tries to push the Tar Baby away the more stuck he gets! Br’er Fox leaps out of hiding and catches Br’er Rabbit who pleads with the fox, begging him to do anything to him except to throw him into the briar patch; Br’er Fox, taken in by the rabbits piteous pleading does just that, throws him into the briar patch, which of course is one of the places Br’er Rabbit is most at home!

I knew the stories were traditional tales, but hadn’t realised their roots went back to the African stories slaves had brought with them when transported from Africa. These traditional stories were published by Joel Chandler Harris in 1881; they were extremely popular. Although there arose controversy over the way Harris portrayed the narrator, an elderly servant who was clearly a former slave, the stories themselves  are still a delight with the wily rabbit tricking his enemies not by aggression and violence, but by guile and cunning!

http://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/articles/arts-culture/uncle-remus-tales

http://www.socialistreview.org.uk/article.php?articlenumber=11236