PERSONIFICATION EXEMPLIFIED: Jonathan Livingston Seagull & Aesop

A Greek storyteller and slave in ancient Greece, Aesop used animals in his creative writings to portray human characteristics. The ending of each of his fables was accompanied by a mortal of wisdom for future reference throughout human life.His classic fable, The Wind and The Sun portrays an argument over which of these intities was the stronger. When they spotted a man walking on the road they challenged each other to see which one could remove the man's coat from his back in the least amount of time.

The wind began to blow, first breezes, then strong gusts of air that were so strong the man could hardly walk against them. The stronger the wind got, the tighter the man held on to his coat until the wind was exhausted and the man still had his coat on his back.

While the wind rested, the sun gently sent his beams out upon the traveler. The sun merely quietly shone upon the man's head and back until he became so warm that he took off his coatand headed for a shade tree nearby.

The moral of the story: gentle persuasion is stronger than force.

The man's encounters with the wind remind me of turbulent times parents often have with their teenagers. Looking back on certain strained situations, it is hard to ascertain who was the stronger one and certainly hard to know who was the most stubborn.

It is also difficult to remember that a gem cannot be polished without friction, nor can a man be perfected without his share of trials. In many life situations, you hear sayings like " you can get more bees with honey" or that "I am going to win him over with kindness."

Only with age does one realize that gentlness wins out over forcefulness. There are a lot of correlations that can be seen between this simple Aesop fable and the story that Richard Beck portrays in his classic fable, Jonathan Livingston Seagull.

There are a lot of correlations that can be seen between the analogy of Aesop"s simple fable wind and sun and the story that Richard Beck portrays in his classic fable, Jonathan Livingston Seagull. As Jonathan becomes more and more frustrated with the simple, materialistic, conforming life within his flock, he becomes rebellious to the point that he is excommunicated from his seagull family. He may have been shocked that the leaders of the flock would really kick him out.However this life event certainly did not deter him from continuing to improve his flying technique and to dream of a higher level of existence.

Jonathan continues to learn to fly and becomes quite pleased with himself regarding his new found accomplishments. It is not too long until he meets two gulls who come to take him to a higher and better place where he can perfect his knowledge. It doesn't take him long to realize that his tenacity and desire to learn are characteristics of most of the gulls in this new place. All of a sudden he finds himself NOT one of a kind, but one of a million. And you know what? Being unique was really what Jonathan was all about--maybe he had Frank Sinatra's philosophy of doing things his way.

How often do we conform to what's easiest in life for us rather than what is best for someone else? How often do we hurry by the fraile little lady who is struggling to get enough oxygen from her attached tank so that she can load her one small bag of groceries? Are you one of a kind who will take a few minutes from your cell conversation to help this precious lady or are you one of the million who choose to just pass her by? Doing things your way can be both a choice to bring a glimmer of joy to someone else and to bring a sense of satisfaction to yourself. The choice is ours. It is always good to remember that someday, you may be that fraile little person.

On his "my way journey", Jonathan is befriended by the wisest gull in this higer place. His new found friend gives him the tools of perserverance, organization, passion, and love. This remarkable teacher brought out the best  attributes in the young gull and gave him the tools to strengthen his weaknesses.The secret to expanding one's level of previous learning is to "begin by knowing that you have already arrived." Jonathan expresses his gratitute to his mentor and decides he needs to return to earth to begin teaching other gulls what he has learned and to continue the expansion of his knowledge base. His days of being a teacher are limited by his innermost desire to return to his learning.

His soaring dreams take him higher and higher with more challenging experiments of daring and triumphant aerial flights. All his hard work pays off, when he finally transcends into another society of gulls who love flying. This flock is quite different from the coercive "Breakfast flock" that had excommunicated him for his noncompliance with complacancy. Being constantly surrounded by other gulls who love flying, Jonathan finds himself feeling a heartfelt belief in the existance and power of a "Great Gull." He begins to realize that to survive in life you have to be true to your calling while at the same time making a mark on the society of which you are a part.

Both of these fables through written ages apart have a related theme in that the "spirit" cannot trully be free without the ability to distinguish between the time to be gentle and the time to be more persuasive. Jonathan learned that he would never trully be able toaccomplish his dreams without learning to forgive and forget. This process begins by learning to love first oneself. Once Jonathan accepted himself for the unique talented, knowledgable gull, he began to love himself. He focused on his strengths and diligently worked to minimize his weaknesses. He finally realized that leaving the weaker friends to fend for themselves was not an acceptable part of his new found life. In the end, love, deserved respect and forgiveness all seem to be equally important to escaping from society's pressures to obey the rules just because they are commonly accepted. The Wind & the Sun & the Seagull. . .all about life, flight, and self-perfection and the willingness to give of your time and talents to others.