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Jake
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Shirley
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Views #1018 | Intermediate (B1)
Jake shares with Shirley why the myth of Paul Bunyan still lives on today.
Shirley: So you said Paul Bunyan is famous. How do people know about him. Is he in children’s story books or do you learn about him at school?
Jake: Yes, both. At school I remember having maybe a Paul Bunyan day. It’s not an actual national holiday but at school I think we had maybe one day when I was in preschool or kindergarten where we would just talk about Paul Bunyan. They would show us picture books of Paul Bunyan and we would make art based on Paul Bunyan. Things like that.
Shirley: That’s pretty amazing that he’s so famous and just for making the Mississippi river. Is there something special about the river that makes it important in America?
Jake: Well it’s definitely the most important river in America, I would say. It’s large and it crosses the entire United States down the middle and, yes, the Mississippi river is very important to the United States and especially where I’m from because I live near the Mississippi river in the United States.
Shirley: Are there any Native American stories to explain why the Mississippi river is such a big river and why it’s there?
Jake: I’m sure there are but unfortunately we choose to talk about the Paul Bunyan story more for one reason or another. I’m not sure why it’s the most famous, but I’m sure the Native Americans have much older stories to explain the Mississippi river.
Shirley: So Jake, is he famous for anything else other than making that big river?
Jake: Well, I think it’s maybe just a story about hard work for children and things like that, because they would say he had a huge ax and he could cut down ten trees with one swing and things like that.
Shirley: So, not really an environmentalist.
Jake: Not really. I think the story was invented before the environment (movement) was invented, so it’s a bit of an old story...
Shirley: So do they want children to go cut down trees or what’s the purpose of the story now?
Jake: Well I think it just means work hard and prosper, like many stories in the United States.
Shirley: I see.
