Trial and Error
Envision surviving on a fearful island. Full of violently wild animals such as snakes and lions. Even bizarre animals like whales, donkeys, and ostriches just to name a few. In the novel Swiss Family Robinson, the family gets stranded on this island, because they are shipwrecked. While on this island, they attempt to tame a donkey and an eagle.
The Robinson family eagerly selected a donkey, who was missing because of the devastating shipwreck. The donkey was relatively easy to tame since it belonged to the family in the first place. All Dad had to do was “hold out a handful of oats mixed with salt” (Wyss P.151) while Fritz “threw a rope around its neck and fastened a halter over its head.” (Wyss P.151)
The next animal was an eagle and it was nobly tamed all by Fritz. He “got up a tree with a long rope, which he fastened tight to the top of it. As soon as he came down again, he and Ernest worked with the axe and saw to cut it through. When it was nearly divided, they carefully managed its fall with the rope.” (Wyss P.137) Fritz then quietly covered the bird’s eyes and tied a string to its foot. However, the eagle wasn’t completely tamed, yet. Fritz “took some tobacco and a pipe, and began to smoke, at the same time, gradually approaching the unruly bird.” (Wyss P.142) The eagle soon became motionless and fainted. Later on the bird woke up and because of the tobacco pipe, it matured, grew calmer everyday, and was finally tamed. …show more content…
On the other hand, there are also some similarities on taming the two animals. First of all, they were both tied up in order to stay put and not quickly roam away while in the family’s possession. Secondly, the donkey and eagle required experimenting to find out what works and what doesn’t work in taming them. Lastly, taming both animals took a lot of patience because the family were not professionals at
Envision surviving on a fearful island. Full of violently wild animals such as snakes and lions. Even bizarre animals like whales, donkeys, and ostriches just to name a few. In the novel Swiss Family Robinson, the family gets stranded on this island, because they are shipwrecked. While on this island, they attempt to tame a donkey and an eagle.
The Robinson family eagerly selected a donkey, who was missing because of the devastating shipwreck. The donkey was relatively easy to tame since it belonged to the family in the first place. All Dad had to do was “hold out a handful of oats mixed with salt” (Wyss P.151) while Fritz “threw a rope around its neck and fastened a halter over its head.” (Wyss P.151)
The next animal was an eagle and it was nobly tamed all by Fritz. He “got up a tree with a long rope, which he fastened tight to the top of it. As soon as he came down again, he and Ernest worked with the axe and saw to cut it through. When it was nearly divided, they carefully managed its fall with the rope.” (Wyss P.137) Fritz then quietly covered the bird’s eyes and tied a string to its foot. However, the eagle wasn’t completely tamed, yet. Fritz “took some tobacco and a pipe, and began to smoke, at the same time, gradually approaching the unruly bird.” (Wyss P.142) The eagle soon became motionless and fainted. Later on the bird woke up and because of the tobacco pipe, it matured, grew calmer everyday, and was finally tamed. …show more content…
On the other hand, there are also some similarities on taming the two animals. First of all, they were both tied up in order to stay put and not quickly roam away while in the family’s possession. Secondly, the donkey and eagle required experimenting to find out what works and what doesn’t work in taming them. Lastly, taming both animals took a lot of patience because the family were not professionals at