Trickter Characters In The Story Of Anansi And Rumpelstiltskin

The invention and eventual sharing of mythology and the stories its creation has intern influenced has lead to a series of character types and eventual individual characters that both intrigue and disturb the consumer. In particular, trickster characters tend to be the most violent, unpredictable, and memorable of the characters in these stories, however; there are different types of tricksters that have been involves in some of the more well-known stories. Two of these tricksters, Anansi and Rumpelstiltskin, tend to have relatively different stories while also showing the same characteristics and amoral choices. While these individual tricksters have played their parts in completely different stories, played their part in different cultures …show more content…
Both of these trickster figures have appearances in some stories that are strangely similar to or that of an actual animal rather than that of a normal human being, the specific type of animal they are shown as is where the differences can be seen and analyzed. For Anansi, we are told from multiple different mythological accounts that this trickster figure/god can inhabit the body of either a normal everyday human being or that of a spider. Yes, that is correct, a big hairy spider man thing. In the story of “Why Anansi’s Head is Small and His Behind is Big” we are shown a situation where Anansi is portrayed as a spider. The tale even begins with the line saying “A long time ago, Anansi the Spider was walking through the forest looking for food to feed his family.” (“Why Anansi’s Head is Small and His Behind is Big”). We then are given stories like “The Ant’s Burden” that show Anansi as a man, a farmer even. The story starts by saying “Kweku Anansi and Kweku Tsin, his son were both very clever farmers.” (“The Ant’s Burden”). While this given linedoes not explicitly state that Anansi is a man, there are specific lines that refer to him as “the old man” (“The Ant’s Burden”), it is pretty clear that he is not a spider as he was in the previously mentioned excerpt. For the Rumpelstiltskin shown in Once Upon a Time we are shown a character who has the form of any normal human being, however; this Rumpelstiltskin has scales, claws, and reptilian eyes. (“Piolet”). In different episodes we are even shown other characters, like Killian Jones, better known as Captain Hook, calling Rumpelstiltskin “The Crocodile” because of his reptile like appearance. The scales and all over creepy appearance of the man goes on the back the image of the