peace

I love all books, and so naturally never grew out of loving the one's when I was a kid or discovering newbies now. Ferdinand, the bull remains one of my favorite characters. He's a wallflower; I can relate. He likes to sit in green pastures, smell the flowers, take time. He's a loner. I also happen to be a literature freak (lit major, never goes away) and have the glorious dissecting bug in me...find deeper hidden meanings, sift through cultural historical text, context. But today, I read an article that tore my sweet friend Ferdinand apart, and it got me thinking...

For those that may not know, or may need a refresher, Ferdinand is the story of a bull who just didn't want to be a bullfighter. He didn't protest for peace (this comes later), he was simply being himself. His mother, a cow, realized this was who he was and let him be because it made him happy. He would go to his favorite spot under a cork tree and smell the pretty flowers, when one day a bee stung him causing him to run and charge all the way into the bullfighting ring. When he got there he saw all the flowers in the women's' hair and just sat down quietly and took in all the beauty. Everyone cheered for him to fight, but he simply wouldn't. It wasn't him. So they took him home and he was happy.

To me, for me, Beautiful story.

The article (to follow) is interesting. It has, from a nerd's point of view lots of provoking arguments and facts about the time in which the book was written, but it makes Ferdinand look bad. It makes it seem as though "sitting out" is always the bad thing to do. I'm not saying it is or it isn't. I'm just saying, I don't like slandering Ferdindand.......or am I?

The book was published in 1936, during the Spanish Civil war. At the time the book was burned by Nazi germany and forbidden in Spain. It explains Ferdinand as a tool for anti-facist propaganda. Turns out Ferdinand was too peaceful, came off as too much a pacifist by wanting to smell those flowers.

The author, Munro Leaf, always rejected any such meaning/voice/agenda, but then again he may have chose to keep quiet in times of war. Especially if he were Ferdinand himself.

Digging deeper I found Ferdinand is ever so popular out there. And it seems more towards a guide in the voice of war. This could be a good thing, and yet...I scratch my head.

I could be wrong. But I'm going to say, as a wallflower, a loner, as a lover of peace, as someone who loves to sit and smell the flowers, with my two cents, or maybe one cent...Ferdinand is lovely. He is a wonderful character, a needed character of ALL times, nations.