Myths and Narratives
Art and Humanities: 20th Century and Beyond
Jasmine Smith
Myths and Narratives Essay The story that I chose is one I heard from a friend about a dog and the rusty nail. Everyday a man would walk past his neighbor’s porch and the dog was always sitting in one spot howling in pain. Eventually one day when the man walked by again and the dog was in the same spot howling, he stopped and asked the owner, “Why is your dog always howling like he’s hurt?” The neighbor replied, “My dog has been sitting on a rusty nail for weeks now.” The curious man questioned, “Why doesn’t the dog just move off of the nail?” The owner replied to him, “I guess it just doesn’t hurt badly enough for him to move.” The moral of this story is that people complain about their situations day after day. They hate their job, they’re overweight, they have no friends, and the list goes on. If the situation that people are in bothers them so much, why not do something about it. These days, people want the benefits without doing the work. If you want something bad enough you have to do whatever it takes to get it. The reader and/or listener should learn that complaining is useless. Just like the dog sitting on the rusty nail day after day and howling didn’t take away the pain he was experiencing, a person complaining about the things in their life doesn’t make the situation any different. If someone is tired of not making enough money, living paycheck to paycheck, being over worked, etc. the common sense thing to do would be to go out and apply to better jobs in hopes of getting something with more stability. If an obese person cries day in and day out because they don’t feel accepted by anyone, can’t do the things that average size people can do, and are low on self-esteem and confidence, crying about it won’t do anything except make it worse. They have to get up and find that help. Motivate them enough to know that they need to get off of the couch and be more active and
Jasmine Smith
Myths and Narratives Essay The story that I chose is one I heard from a friend about a dog and the rusty nail. Everyday a man would walk past his neighbor’s porch and the dog was always sitting in one spot howling in pain. Eventually one day when the man walked by again and the dog was in the same spot howling, he stopped and asked the owner, “Why is your dog always howling like he’s hurt?” The neighbor replied, “My dog has been sitting on a rusty nail for weeks now.” The curious man questioned, “Why doesn’t the dog just move off of the nail?” The owner replied to him, “I guess it just doesn’t hurt badly enough for him to move.” The moral of this story is that people complain about their situations day after day. They hate their job, they’re overweight, they have no friends, and the list goes on. If the situation that people are in bothers them so much, why not do something about it. These days, people want the benefits without doing the work. If you want something bad enough you have to do whatever it takes to get it. The reader and/or listener should learn that complaining is useless. Just like the dog sitting on the rusty nail day after day and howling didn’t take away the pain he was experiencing, a person complaining about the things in their life doesn’t make the situation any different. If someone is tired of not making enough money, living paycheck to paycheck, being over worked, etc. the common sense thing to do would be to go out and apply to better jobs in hopes of getting something with more stability. If an obese person cries day in and day out because they don’t feel accepted by anyone, can’t do the things that average size people can do, and are low on self-esteem and confidence, crying about it won’t do anything except make it worse. They have to get up and find that help. Motivate them enough to know that they need to get off of the couch and be more active and