Achieving Author’s Purpose: A Successful Creation Myth Have you ever wondered how Earth came to be? Everyone has heard of different creation stories whether they were fictional or reasonable stories. “The World on the Turtle’s Back” is a an Iroquois creation story that displays the Earth beginning, and the balance of “good” and “evil.” “Creation stories often serve many purposes. According to Larry Evers and Paul Pavich, scholars of Native American literature, such stories’ remind people of who and what they are, why they are in this particular place, and how they should continue to live here” (Literature, p. 41). It is a successful creation myth because the Iroquois gave relatable comparisons of describing how the Earth began and how things
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It is noted that in “The World on the Turtle’s Back,” the twins the woman gives birth to in the Sky-World are variously different. “The right-handed twin was the one who did everything just as he should. He said what he meant, and he meant what he said. The left-handed twin never said what he meant or meant what he said. He always lied” (lines 106-109). Both twins competed with each other their entire lives to identify who was the superior twin. Their grandmother preferred the left-handed twin, and the right-handed twin became envious, so they had a duel. The right-handed twin won and killed his brother (lines 165-171). In “The Genesis” there is Cain and Able, the children of Adam and Eve, whom also seem to have good and evil. Able is the good brother, and Cain is the evil brother. One day, Able got jealous over Cain because God admired Cain’s gift better more then his, so they got into a disagreement which resulted in Able killing his brother Cain. Both stories had siblings who happened to be brothers. One brother happened to be evil, and the other was seemed to be good. In both stories, the good twin or brother killed the evil twin or brother. All things considered, “The World on the Turtle’s Back” is a successful creation myth. The Iroquois gave relatable comparisons of describing how the Earth began and how things function on the Earth. In each story, both women touched a forbidden tree and both siblings
It is noted that in “The World on the Turtle’s Back,” the twins the woman gives birth to in the Sky-World are variously different. “The right-handed twin was the one who did everything just as he should. He said what he meant, and he meant what he said. The left-handed twin never said what he meant or meant what he said. He always lied” (lines 106-109). Both twins competed with each other their entire lives to identify who was the superior twin. Their grandmother preferred the left-handed twin, and the right-handed twin became envious, so they had a duel. The right-handed twin won and killed his brother (lines 165-171). In “The Genesis” there is Cain and Able, the children of Adam and Eve, whom also seem to have good and evil. Able is the good brother, and Cain is the evil brother. One day, Able got jealous over Cain because God admired Cain’s gift better more then his, so they got into a disagreement which resulted in Able killing his brother Cain. Both stories had siblings who happened to be brothers. One brother happened to be evil, and the other was seemed to be good. In both stories, the good twin or brother killed the evil twin or brother. All things considered, “The World on the Turtle’s Back” is a successful creation myth. The Iroquois gave relatable comparisons of describing how the Earth began and how things function on the Earth. In each story, both women touched a forbidden tree and both siblings