THE 10 CHARACTERISTICS OF THE MOST IMPORTANT FABLES - LITERATURE - 2025

Some of the characteristics of the most important fables are their pedagogical purpose, their animated characters and their simple structure.

In literature, the fable is a short fiction narrative genre whose message seeks to teach a moral truth at the end of the story. It is one of the most widely used forms of folk literature throughout history, the survival of which is believed to be owed much less to written or printed anthologies than to oral transmission.

Its composition is, for the most part, in the form of prose. Although less commonly, they can also be presented in metric language as a poetic composition. Given their short and simple nature, fables in verse form maintain a certain narrative structure.

The first recognized use of the term "fable" dates back to the Anglo-French world of the fourteenth century. This word derives from the Latin fibula which means story, tale or story and comes from the word fari which means to speak.

It was probably used by medieval troubadours, musicians, bards, and poets to orally convey their stories to people.

In the western world, to speak of a fable is definitely to conjure the name of Aesop. Today many collections of moral narratives are known under the title of "Aesop's Fables" that have been circulating since ancient times.

Whether he existed or not, this character made a great impression on classical literary history that has survived to modernity.

Their stories have been leaving teachings and life advice for generations, universalizing behavior structures and moral values ​​while, in parallel, entertaining people.

You may be interested in these fables for children with a moral.

Fundamental characteristics of the fables

1- The characters are usually animals

This is probably the most distinctive property of the fables. The characters are almost always humanized animals or at most anthropomorphic, that is, they speak like humans and behave like humans.

This symbolism with man in society corresponds to some extent to the type of natural behavior of the animal in its habitat or with its role in it.

Within Aesop's universe, various animals are consistent in representing a particular aspect of human behavior: the fox is clever, opportunistic, and tricky, the lion is powerful and proud, the wolf is treacherous and spiteful, the dog is innocent and trusting, the hare is conceited, the tortoise is persistent, the porcupine is noble…

You can also find fables whose protagonists are plants, elements of nature or some other type of object. The absence of human characters in fables is not exactly exclusive.

Although it is not fashionable and is not common, there are exceptions. In the same way, they are never main or determining characters for the purpose of the genre.

2- Narrator

Fables usually have a non-participating observer narrator in the third person, who recounts what happens to the characters in an undetermined place and time. Like popular tales, fables tend to be timeless.

3- Very simple structure

Every fable begins with the presentation of a situation or problem where one or more protagonists are involved. In development, the resolution of the conflict can sometimes be irrelevant or unresolved, since the message in the closing depends clearly on the situation itself.

A more complex structure would divert attention from the moral message to the development and conclusion of the story arc.

4- Length

Fables are usually very short stories that synthesize in a simple way the argument of a human problem.

The idea has always been to present the characters in a certain situation to deliver the message in the most concrete way possible. A long narration could distract the reader's attention from the main purpose of the story.

5- Human issues

For the most part, fables deal with human defects and vices in the interaction of the characters; illustrating below the consequences derived from such behavior.

6- Intended for all audiences

Due to the length, simplicity and simplicity, the fable is focused so that even the little ones can learn the lesson, but the messages are perfectly applicable to any audience.

With deeper analysis, you can get more than one learning from the same story.

7- Literary resources

They can have funny, familiar and humorous tones, using mostly satire to criticize behaviors and behaviors. They resort to the humanization and personification of non-human elements.

8- Pedagogical purpose

Behind this type of story there will always be the intention of offering a lesson or teaching, through criticizing certain behaviors or attitudes that are considered bad.

Although it is recognized that the scale of what is good or bad can vary depending on the culture of the collective and the time, generally a fable deals with more universal aspects of human behavior in society.

This has allowed him to effectively convey "correct" behavior conventions, as opposed to "incorrect" ones and their consequences.

9- They respond to a socio-cultural need

Expanding the idea of ​​the previous point, the fable helps to maintain a structure of values ​​in a certain group, transmitting the conventions of behavior expected in society through its narrative and message.

In this way, it attends to the need of the moment - especially in children - to teach how behavior should be, as well as the need for that same moral structure to last over time.

10- The moral

Like any literary text, it seeks to leave a message with the audience. In the case of fables, this message is almost always explicit and presented at the end of the story in a short sentence outside the narrative, although it may not appear at all.

If that were the case, the moral of a fable is quite obvious and universal. The moral is the life and behavior lesson that the story offers.

By making the message manifest, the author avoids any other type of interpretation of the lesson he wants to give. Whoever reads the fable will receive the same message.

References

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5. The characteristics of fable. Recovered from quizlet.com.
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