The most famous animals in literature

Beyond the fables in which dogs, pigs and foxes become absolute protagonists and better metaphors for certain moral lessons, the animal kingdom also occupies an important role in world literature, either as companions to those meat protagonists. and bone, as a mirror to portray the ideas of an author, or as a metaphor in itself.

These most famous animals in literature They are already part of our life, the world of letters and, perhaps, those many stories that you still have to read.

Moby Dick

The albino sperm whale that surprised the crew of Herman Melville's novel published in 1851 was inspired, in turn, by the enormous Mocha Dick that roamed the Chilean coast and surprised the crew of the Essex whaler in 1820.

rocinante

The most famous horse in literature, or at least ours, is Rocinante, horse of the illustrious gentleman Don Quixote on whose mount he rammed the mills of La Mancha and traveled the Spanish lands. Baptized with that name because of its "loud, loud and significant" character, Rocinante is one of the most charismatic animals in the world of letters.

Silversmith

If Rocinante is the most popular horse, Platero is the most influential donkey in our lyrics. The best ally of Juan Ramón Jiménez During his return to the town of Moguer, in Huelva, this little donkey to which the author showed the moridero, the Rocío, the orchard or the Ribera street of his hometown became the main vehicle to express the vision and reflections of the writer .

Baloo

A few days from premiere of the new adaptation of The Jungle Book we rescued one of his most endearing characters: Baloo, the lazy bear who sang that of "The most vital" in the Disney film but who in the original work of Rudyard Kipling The Jungle Book he was a calmer and more disciplined ally.

Kala

The adoptive mother of that boy lost in the jungle became one of the most beloved characters in the saga of Tarzan of the Apes started by Edgard Rice Burroughs in 1914. This character, belonging to the fictional simian race baptized as mangles (a cross between chimpanzee and gorilla) had its particular version in the famous Disney film released in 1999.

Winnie the Pooh

The character whose first story would be published by Alan Alexander Milne was discovered by his son, Christopher (sound familiar?), Who visited a bear from the London Zoo delivered by Lieutenant Harry Colebourn after finding it in Ontario. Later adapted by Disney, Winnie the Pooh represents the quintessential childhood companion of almost any child born in the XNUMXth century.

The Fox

When that blond boy called The Little Prince came to Earth he came across a fox hunting chickens and he got a little bored. For the animal, being domesticated was the best way to become an animal among many others in a more special one. One of the most metaphorical animals in literature became, in turn, one of the most beloved characters in the tale of Antoine de Saint-Exupéry.

Napoleon

Described in Farm Rebellion by George Orwell as "a big fierce looking boar, the only Berkshire pig on the farm and reputed to always get his way«, The pig that symbolized the presence of Stalin in a farm of subordinate animals became not only one of the great villains of literature but also one of the most successful metaphors of XNUMXth century literature. In France, thereafter, no pig would ever be called Napoleon.

Lion

The majestic lion that created the world of Narnia was a creative, wise and speaking entity in that world of snow that CS Lewis brought to life in 1950 turning the saga of The Chronicles of Narnia in all a reference of the fantastic and juvenile literature.

john savior

The most famous seagull in literature inspired the short novel by Juan Salvador Gaviota published by Richard Bach in 1970 and turned into a delicious learning fable for the new generations. The story, centered on the self-improvement process of a seagull that managed to unify the pleasure of travel with the established order, evoked an ode to freedom and the expression of each one of us.

Solomon

The Asian elephant around which José Saramago's novel "The Elephant's Journey" revolves was a gift to Archduke Maximiliano of Austria in the XNUMXth century. The novel narrates the journey of this elephant through half of Europe as a mockery of the weaknesses of royalty and the feelings of a living being regardless of their intellect, race or social condition.

Richard Parker

The co-star of Life of Pi, by Yann Martel, it was a Bengal tiger mistakenly named after the hunter who captured it. The beast shared throughout the pages of the novel a boat trip with the son of its drowned caretaker, the little Indian boy Pi. Throughout the pages of this work of magic and survival we witness the personality of a tiger tamed by the protagonist's need to get ahead, although in the end he became something more than a simple traveling companion.

These 12 most famous animals in literature they were more than mere secondary creatures of a plot. They became characters with weight, metaphors for great personalities and the best vehicle to express the many reflections of the human being through the vision of an author.

What is your favorite animal in literature?