Silly Old Bear

'Silly Old Bear!'; Almost every child and adult has heard this phrase before which comes from the Winne the Pooh series written by A.A. Milne. In this series of books written about Winnie the Pooh, the 'silly old bear,'; his friends, and their adventures together in the Hundred Acre Wood Forest, Milne captures the 'incomparably and enduringly, the frolic and indolence, the sweetness and foolishness, of animals which are also people(Discovering Authors).'; Many critics and people agree that Pooh is simply an ignorant little bear who is only interested in self-indulgence and is literally a 'silly old bear.'; This statement, however, is not true. Through the use of his characters in the Winnie the Pooh stories, Milne is able to present both the good and bad qualities of people that make up the Chinese philosophy of Taoism. One may even say the Pooh is a master of Taoism.

Born a Scotsman, Alan Alexander Milne spent most of his childhood in London where he grew up to be one of the most well known British authors of his time(Dennis). Today Milne is praised for his 'accurate and sympathetic observations of child behavior, his wit, and his skill with language, especially wordplay and dialogue'; which are easily recognizable in his famous Winnie the Pooh stories(Discovering Authors). Although people today regard Milne's stories as children's stories, Milne did not intend them for children, but rather for the child within every person(Dennis). As Barbara Novak puts it, Milne's work 'captures the gaiety of a child's mind and suggests a positive attitude to life and a fresh appreciation of the smallest things(Novak).'; Not only does Milne show the positive attitudes of people, but he also shows the negative attitudes and characteristics of people which, combined, come to make up the philosophy of Taoism.

What is Taoism? Taoism is and ancient Chinese philosophy that began during the 300's B.C. The word tao originally meant way or road. The general idea behind Taoism is that reality consists of all the individual ways and that the characteristics and behaviors of each thing in the universe make it what it is(World Book 26). In terms of Pooh and his friends, the concern of Taoism is a particular way of appreciating, learning from, and working with whatever happens in everyday life. If one has mastered these simp...

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Taoist immortals have been traditionally known for their young attitudes, appearances, and energies(Hoff 109). It is not the adult that achieves the highest level of development. It is the 'clear-minded, all seeing Child. The wise are Children Who Know. Their minds have been emptied of the countless minute somethings of small learning, and filled with the wisdom of the Great Nothing, the Way of the Universe.(Hoff 151).'; Pooh has been called the bear with little brain, but this is not a bad thing. Taoists believe that the brain can often send people off in the wrong direction. A brain can do all sorts of things, but the things that it can do are usually not the most important things. The masters of Taoism, like Pooh himself, listen to the voices within themselves, the voices of simple-mindedness and wisdom. These voices go beyond knowledge(Hoff 154). Pooh may be a simple-minded, childish bear, but his friends in the Hundred Acre Wood Forest have demonstrated that knowledge and cleverness can often lead to no accomplishment. All people possess an Owl, Tigger, Piglet, Eeyore, and Rabbit within themselves, but it is the 'Silly Old Bear'; that they must choose to follow.