Introduction: Pecos Bill as a Tall Tale Character
Pecos Bill is probably the most famous American tall tale character. A tall tale is a story that can be true or invented but is anyway hard to believe. Pecos Bill is a story about the adventures of a cowboy who was raised by coyotes. With time, this boy understood that he is not an animal but a human, and he got a chance to change his life with coyotes and continued his life with people. The first stories about Pecos Bill were written by Edward O’Reilly and published in 1917. Since then, lots of writers presented their ideas as for the facts of Bill’s biography, and almost every plot attracts readers’ attention in its own way.
Stephen Krensky is one of the authors who present his version of the Bill’s story. The summary of his work will be presented in this paper. To my mind, this Pecos Bill tall tale version touches numerous psychological aspects that help to improve children’s lives and their comprehension of this world. Pacos Bill is the story that teaches not to be afraid of difficulties, be friendly, and not to envy people.
Summary of Pecos Bill
Nowadays, there are lots of variations of Bill’s story. The summary of all those stories is the same. A boy was lost by his parents in the process of traveling and was found and grew up by coyotes, and then became one of the most powerful and famous cowboys among people.
However, many writers cannot come to the same conclusion concerning the matter of Bill’s death. Some of the stories tell that Bill laughed himself to death when he saw another cowboy in very strange and funny clothes. Other stories inform that he “washed down a meal of barbed wire with nitroglycerin” (Haxen, 55).
Interpretations of Pecos Bill
Bruno Bettelheim was one of the most famous child psychologists and writers in the middle of the 1900s. His The Uses of Enchantment is a beautiful work that may help to analyze the story about the cowboy Bill. This psychologist admits that folktales are created to help modern children to grow up and comprehend what it means to become a hero without any outside help.
Pecos Bill, who is able to use his powers, his knowledge, and abilities, becomes influential and known. That is why, according to a child psychologist Bruno Bettelheim, Pecos Bill may be considered as a somewhat successful story for children and their perception of the world.
Another professor in psychology and a critique of folktales is Jack David Zipes. He underlines that tall tales should present more reliable information about US history and the development of the events in the form of fiction (Zipes, 193). Pecos Bill’s tall tale introduces several quire exciting facts about the West; this is why Jack Zipes regarded Pecos Bill as a powerful and useful fairy tale for children.
My Own Interpretation of Pecos Bill
After reading the story about this cowboy, I cannot but admire the courage of this person, his desire to live and develop. To my mind, the legend of Pecos Bill is one of the most powerful from the psychological aspects, because it teaches the reader to accept the situation as it is, but not try to change it in accordance with personal preferences.
Of course, it is just a fiction, but still, even grown-ups can find much interesting in it. When a little boy finds himself around the coyotes, he does not scare and does not cry. Such a reaction causes respect for coyotes, and they accept him as a member of their own family.
If we look closer at this story, it is possible to realize that any respect may be gained in much more difficult situations, which happen to people. It is necessary to demonstrate one’s power and will.
Conclusion
Along with Paul Bunyan, John Henry, Joe Magarac and others, Pecos Bill is a very famous American tall tale character. The adventures of this fictional cowboy are described and shown in numerous books, movies, and cartoons. In summary, Bill’s stories make up a significant part of child literature that may become educative for grown-ups. Numerous interpretations of the story prove how significant the story of Bill is for modern society. That is why people should pay more attention to literature for kids to become an important part of this world.
Works Cited
Haxen, Walter. High-Interest Reading. Columbus, Ohio: School Specialty Publishing, 1999.
Zipes, Jack, D. Speaking out: Storytelling and Creative Drama for Children. New York: Routledge, 2004. Web.