Analysis of The Elephant and the Crocodile by H. Berkeley Score

This composition will discuss whether we should agree or disagree with His Majesty, the lion's judgment at the end of the story. The lion concludes, "Neither is better than the other." The fable's plot demonstrates how each contributed to retrieving the soldier's helment. After carefully considering all of the evidence , this writer has come to the conclusion the His Majesty, the lion, was correct in stating the crocodile and elephant were "wise and clever in your respective ways."  This is shown in paragraph 6 from the passage when the elephant "extended his long trunk, and reached the helmet quite easily." The crocodile was unable to reach the helment as was of no value in this compettition. His strong skin would not help him this time. Consider the next excerpt when returning to the other side of the river the elephant drops the helment into the river and it sinks to the bottom. His long trunk is now of no value and he seems to have lost the competition to see who is the better animal. The author contends through the character of the lion that both animals are just as valuable and important in their own "respective ways" each doing what the other could not do.    It seems evident that H. Berkeley Score's fable has an important message for today's society. We all have value and contribute in our own unique ways, and so many times we feel like we have to be like someone else or be able to do what they do or we feel like we are of no value.  It is important for each of us to reflect on who we are and what makes us unique. Each of us can offer something to the world that no one else can. As the fable unfolds and we begin to see this idea illustrated in the plot. The argument the elephant and lion were having in paragraphs 1 and 2 is similiar to the thoughts and conflicts that play out in our minds and do carry over in real life conflicts with our friends and others we consider rivals in our lives. It is true that we at first are looking to our own qualities for self-assurance , but soon we begin to compete with others to justify our dominance or to be like them. I wonder why when the quest for the helment was over did the crocodile swim ahead of the elephant. I know he was a better swimmer, but was he also disappointed. Perhaps he was angry and swimming ahead to get the competition over with so he could move on to the next event in life. What is truly shocking is how both the elephant and the crocodile were at first confident in themselves, but had struggles keeping their confidence during the competition. Both of them felt defeat at some point during the test to see who was the better animal.  It wa only when the lion explained to them how they were both "wise" and "clever" did they both begin to understand this truth for themselves. This leads to the conclusion that each of us has a unique set of characteristics, talents, and skills to offer the world. There is no reason to try and be like someone else or even worse to feel defeated when someone else can or does something you can't do. Rest assured, you have talents and abilities and can do lots of things others can not do themselves. Perhaps in the future the crocodile and the elephant may consider working together on a project. That sounds like a good Idea for the rest of us too.