Coyote Steals Fire, And Master Cat: Puss In Boots

Three Tricksters and Their Objectives Often when a character works toward a goal, he or she breaks rules and strays from morality if necessary in order to complete the task. Great benefits typically motivate these characters to work hard and use methods that they would typically consider unacceptable.The tricksters in the folktales “How Stories Came to Earth,” and “Coyote Steals Fire,” and in the fairytale, “Master Cat: Puss in Boots,” trick other characters in order to receive a benefit. The ways in which the tricksters achieve this are commonly considered unethical. However because of the circumstances some of the actions are excused, yet some are not. Although “How Stories Came to Earth,” “Coyote Steals Fire,” and “Master Cat: Puss in
Master Cat harms others in order to profit from them. In order to make the king believe that the marquis has a vast area of land in his possession, the cat threatens people that he will chop them up if they do not state that the fields they work belong to the Marquis de Carabas. The cat tricks the king into believing that the marquis has more talent, wealth, and property than he actually possesses through a series of tricks so that the king offers the marquis his daughter’s hand in marriage. The marquis accepts the daughter’s hand in marriage and the day after he rides with the king, “he married the princess” (Ferrault 50). Lastly, the cat uses the unethical method of murder to gain property for his master and himself. The cat tricks a shape shifting ogre into transforming into a mouse that “as soon as the cat saw it” he pounces on it and eats it (Ferrault 50). Master Cat murders an ogre for the sole purpose of taking its property. The personal gains of appearing to have additional property, gaining status by marrying the king’s daughter, and obtaining property do not justify the unethical methods of threatening workers, tricking the king, and murdering an