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Schule > Englisch > James Thurber - The owl who was god > James Thurber "the owl who was god"

“The owl who was god” is a short fable by James Thurber. It's about an owl who impresses the other creatures in the forest so they make him their God.
Two moles meet an owl at night and find out that the owl can see in the darkness. So they tell this to the other animals of the forest. To find out if the owl is intelligent a secretary bird asks some questions and the owl answers them correctly.
The creatures are very impressed and decide to ask him to be their God. So they follow him wherever he goes. But then the owl and all the creature walk to a highway although they’re warned that this is dangerous. So happens an accident and a lot of the creatures are killed.

Interpretation
I think James Thurber wants to tell us that many times we are like the creature. Someone impresses us and we are let him think for us. We follow him blind until death. This happened many times in the 20.Century when people followed their rulers into a war and death. James Thurber use the fable form to criticise the thinking of governments and people without calling their name.

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