"How Mosquitoes Came To Be": The Giant Lives On
Every time I read the Tlingit Legend, "How Mosquitoes Came To Be," there
are certain questions that come to mind about where the legend came from and who
wrote it. The legend was first published in 1883 and later found by Richard
Erdoes, who included it in one of his publications, American Indian Myths and
Legends. Why is the human race so selfish to think we can be the hunter and not
the hunted. Although giants could be a dominant presence in our lives, humans
prove that they will not be over-taken.
Each time I read the Tlingit legend, a new question would arise in my
mind as to how this legend came to be and particularly, who wrote it? The first
question I thought of was, is he the only giant on the planet? This was
answered for me with the introduction of the giant's son. As I read on,
something seemed puzzling to me, the fact that why humans are so selfish to
think they are better than giants, let alone anything else. For instance, why
is it okay for humans to kill a chicken, roast it and eat it, and a giant is bad
to "kill humans, eat their flesh, and drink their blood"(11)? Later in the
story we learn that the giant also liked to roast the hearts of humans. Another
puzzling question I asked myself is, if the giant was stabbed by the human and
"The monster screamed and fell down dead."(12), why did the giant still speak?
I know this is a legend or maybe just a fictionous story, but if the giant is
also a spirit then that would be helpful when reading the legend. I will
analyze these questions in hopes of understanding the problems with humans and
giants, which I might add is still being dealt with today with mosquitoes
everywhere.
My first question, if this giant was the only one on the planet, seemed
answered toward the end of the story with the introduction of the giant's son.
When the human threatened the life of the boy giant as he asked where the heart
of his father was, why didn't he kill the boy anyway? As we all know, a boy
will eventually become a person, and the boy is in fact a giant, therefore by
killing the giant by stabbing him in the left heel, the human simply forgot the
son. There are a lot of parts in this legend that are very unclear and when we
and thinks of him as a man for having killed another man. The fact of the
The first Amendment of the United States Constitution says; “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.”[1] Our fore fathers felt that this statement was plain enough for all to understand, however quite often the United States government deems it necessary to make laws to better define those rights that are stated in the Constitution. Today the framers would be both encouraged and discouraged by our modern interpretation the First Amendment the United States Constitution.
could not bring himself to kill a innocent little boy so he gave him to a
The scholarly debate about the concept of American Exceptionalism has been a topic of discussion for many decades. As a matter of fact, the debating that surrounds the concept of American Exceptionalism doesn’t arise from a vacuum. It arises from the various usages over time, which is related to the historical development of America that makes it different from other nations in Europe and elsewhere. It makes it even more difficult and complicated to establish just one single definition to this concept. Adding to that, many people from different cultural and religious backgrounds have various ideas of what America means to them. Thus, this essay will trace back the origin of American Exceptionalism and will highlight
kills it with his knife and this is only the beginning of the change in his
...T AMENDMENT BECAUSE THE PRAYERS GIVEN BEFORE EACH MEETING SHOWED ENDORSEMENT AND COERCION OF A PARTICULAR FAITH.
when a boy was to become a man, he was sent to find his protective spirit. First, h...
him live. The monster didn’t know this until the end. He found out that to
An American’s right to religious worship is valued tremendously, thus making the first Amendment ve...
The First Amendment gives its citizens the freedom of religion, not the freedom to only practice the beliefs instated by Christianity:
going on but his life was in fact destroyed at the same moment because of the battle.
...us on deadly revenge. In each case, a retribution that is carried out in a cruel and callous fashion. The men fulfilling these actions are cold, calculating, and contemplative. They have painstakingly endeavored to seek retribution against what has plagued them: Fortunato and his insults to the Montresor and the old man’s piercing, chilling eye for the man from “The Tell-Tale Heart”. Driven to the point of madness by their own obsessions, they plot to murder their offenders. The tales are told each by the man who has indeed committed the crime. Each man’s insanity becomes more and more clear as they narrate confession; the Montresor with the unfailing ease with which he dictates his account and the man from “The Tell-Tale Heart” with his jagged and rough delivery. Their distinct mental instability calls into question to reliability of the report they give.
He thought if the boy did not want to be a warrior then it could not be his son.
ground. The king hears of the news and sends the army to stop the giant
giant’s giant arms would lie on the ocean bed and would have its ageless rest.