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Seminole Legends

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The Legends of the Seminoles, as told by Betty Mae Jumper, each explore the universal concepts of cause and effect, and the importance of relationships. Each legend has a completely different way of exploring the same universal concepts. For example, the legend may be about two humans as in the legend titled “Two Hunters” or it may use two animals as in the other two legends “Alligator” and “The Little Turtle and the Wolf”. Each of these legends teaches the reader something different about these three universal concepts. The first universal concept that these three legends explore is cause and effect. This concept is valid in almost every situation. It is as simple as this, every action has a reaction. In other words, any action that someone …show more content…

In the first legend “Two Hunters” the two hunters go on hunting escapades together for up to one month at a time (Jumper 23) it is obvious that the two have to have a good relationship. After the hunter who made a bad decision and ate the fish turns into a snake his partner still does as he asks and brings his family to see him (Jumper 24). While the family is visiting with the snake for the first and last time the snake asks his used to be partner to teach his children how to hunt and to look after them (Jumper 25). This shows how good of a relationship these two hunters had, for even after the one hunter made a bad decision the other hunter still respected his old partner and did exactly as he asked. The importance of relationships is very clear in this legend; although, one may make a mistake it is vital for the other to stick by their side until the very end no matter what it may entail. In the second legend “Alligator” the importance of relationships is expressed in a very different way. The rabbit in this legend kills the alligator for no apparent reason, but what one may not realize is that the rabbit killed the alligator because it did not know how to have a friend, all it knew how to do was lie and manipulate. The rabbit always got what it wanted which typically does not make for a very good relationship (Jumper 27). In this legend the importance of relationships is expressed through the actions of the rabbit. The rabbit had no relationships which eventually led it to becoming a murderer, relationships are vital in life because without some form of interaction one can easily go mad which occurred with the rabbit when it killed the alligator. The third legend “The Little Turtle and the Wolf” explores the importance of relationships in the most obvious way. The little turtle uses the help of his friends in order to

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