The most famous animals in literature

Beyond the fables in which dogs, pigs and foxes become absolute protagonists and better metaphors for certain moral lessons, the animal kingdom also occupies an important role in world literature, either as companions to those meat protagonists. and bone, as a mirror to portray the ideas of an author, or as a metaphor in itself.

These most famous animals in literature are already part of our lives, the world of letters, and perhaps those many stories you still have to read.

Moby Dick

The albino sperm whale that surprised the crew of Herman Melville's novel published in 1851 was itself inspired by the enormous Mocha Dick that roamed the Chilean coast and surprised the crew of the whaling ship Essex in 1820.

rocinante

The most famous horse in literature , or at least in ours, is Rocinante, the horse of the illustrious knight Don Quixote, upon whose mount he charged the windmills of La Mancha and traversed the Spanish lands. Named for its "tall, sonorous, and meaningful" character, Rocinante is one of the most charismatic animals in the world of letters.

Silversmith

If Rocinante is the most popular horse, Platero is the most influential donkey in Spanish literature. Juan Ramón Jiménez's best ally during his return to the town of Moguer, in Huelva, this little donkey, to whom the author showed the slaughterhouse, the Rocío pilgrimage, the orchards, and the riverside street of his hometown, became the main vehicle for expressing the writer's vision and reflections.

Baloo

Just days before the premiere of the new adaptation of The Jungle Book, we rescue one of its most endearing characters: Baloo, the sloth bear who sang "The bare necessities" in the Disney film, but who in Rudyard Kipling's original work, The Jungle Book, was a calmer and more disciplined ally.

Kala

The adoptive mother of that child lost in the jungle became one of the most beloved characters in the Tarzan of the Apes saga , started by Edgar Rice Burroughs in 1914. This character, belonging to the fictional ape race called mangani (a cross between chimpanzee and gorilla), had her own version in the famous Disney film released in 1999.

Winnie the Pooh

The character whose first story would be published by Alan Alexander Milne was discovered by his son, Christopher (sound familiar?), Who visited a bear from the London Zoo delivered by Lieutenant Harry Colebourn after finding it in Ontario. Later adapted by Disney, Winnie the Pooh represents the quintessential childhood companion of almost any child born in the XNUMXth century.

The Fox

When that blond boy called the Little Prince arrived on Earth, he encountered a fox who hunted chickens and was rather bored. For the animal, being tamed was the best way to go from being just another animal to something more special. One of the most metaphorical animals in literature became, in turn, one of the most beloved characters in Antoine de Saint-Exupéry 's story.

Napoleon

Described in Animal Farm by George Orwell as " a large, fierce-looking boar, the only Berkshire pig on the farm and with a reputation for always getting his own way ," the pig that symbolized Stalin's presence on a farm of subservient animals became not only one of literature's great villains but also one of the most apt metaphors in 20th-century literature. In France, from then on, no pig would ever again be named Napoleon.

Lion

The majestic lion who created the world of Narnia was a creative, wise, and talking entity in that snowy world that CS Lewis brought to life in 1950, turning the Chronicles of Narnia saga into a benchmark of fantasy and young adult literature.

john savior

Literature's most famous seagull inspired Richard Bach 's novella Jonathan Livingston Seagull, published in 1970, which has become a delightful coming-of-age fable for new generations. The story, centered on a seagull's journey of self-improvement as it reconciles the joy of travel with the established order, evokes a powerful ode to freedom and self-expression.

Solomon

The Asian elephant around which José Saramago's novel "The Elephant's Journey" revolves was a gift to Archduke Maximiliano of Austria in the XNUMXth century. The novel narrates the journey of this elephant through half of Europe as a mockery of the weaknesses of royalty and the feelings of a living being regardless of their intellect, race or social condition.

Richard Parker

The co-star of Yann Martel's *Life of Pi * was a Bengal tiger mistakenly named after the hunter who captured him. Throughout the novel, the beast shared a boat journey with the son of his drowned keeper, the young Indian boy Pi. In this tale of magic and survival, we witness the personality of a tiger tamed by the protagonist's need to survive, though in the end, he becomes much more than just a traveling companion.

These 12 most famous animals in literature were more than just minor characters in a plot. They became weighty characters, metaphors for great personalities, and the best vehicle for expressing the many reflections of humankind through an author's vision.

What is your favorite animal in literature?