DINAMIKA ILMU - Vol. 16 No. 1 - Learning from Fables: Moral Values in Three Selected English Stories

Oct 15, 2026

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Fable is treated as more than entertainment, containing ethical lessons embedded in narrative. This study examines moral values in three selected English fable stories and explains how readers can learn from them. The research also correlates the identified values with real life and Islamic views. Using a qualitative design with descriptive analysis, data were collected through a January–June 2015 survey of primary and junior high school students. Findings show each fable conveys key morals including underestimating opponents, persistence, careful thinking, intelligence, and trust.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages12

Reading Time30 min

AccessFree to download

Abstract

A. Introduction

B. Research Methodology

DINAMIKA ILMU Vol. 16 No. 1, 2016 P-ISSN: 1411-3031; E-ISSN: 2442-9651 Learning from Fables: Moral Values in Three Selected English Stories Mukhlash Abrar Jambi University A Doctorate Student ofQueen’s University Belfast, United Kingdom [aabismyname@gmail.com](aabismyname@gmail.com) Abstract Fable is not just a fun story, but it certainly has the moral lesson(s) inside of the storyline. This research tries to portray ethical value(s) in three selected English fable stories as well as to let the readers know that they can learn something from the fables. With this study, the researcher also correlated the value(s) to real life and Islamic views. To achieve the research objectives, the researcher employed qualitative research design with descriptive analysis as an attempt to provide an in-depth and comprehensive explanation of the data. The data of this study, based on the researcher’s random survey on Primary and Junior High Schools students on January –June 2015, are three selected English fable stories entitled “The Rabbit and the Turtle, The Fox and the Goat, and The Monkey and the Crocodile”. The results indicate that each fable has, at least, a moral lesson in its narrative, among others: Never underestimate the weakest opponent, Never give up is the key of success, Look before you leap, Being smart helps better in life, and Trust is the basis of the relationship. Keywords: Fable(s), Moral lesson(s), Islamic view(s) A. Introduction We might often hear people say that reading helps us enrich our knowledge, it is indeed correct because it facilitates people try to comprehend the meaning of written text and know something which they might not have heard or known before. As what Nuttal (1982) says that reading is defined as understanding the interpret of meaning sense. Furthermore, Weaver (1988) posits that reading is a process of discovering writer’s intention by correlating the reader’s existing knowledge and the text’s context. In finding the author’s purpose, of course, the readers figure out the meaning of the text. A text, according to Hoey, is interpreted as the evidence of purposeful communication reason from writers to the readers or speakers to hearers. Moreover, Gee (1991) and Gee (1999) opines that a text is a unique and beautiful coherent story, both in spoken or written, created by human. Both views of text above obviously indicate that people produce the text to communicate among others. In terms of written ones, a text can be clearly seen in the form of written words, phrases, sentences, and also paragraphs in all publishing works or reading materials, including fable story text. It is a well-known definition by people, especially younger students, that fable is a type of stories characterized by non-human characters, e.g animals, in it. This fable understanding, unfortunately, oftentimes, has not equaled with the knowledge beyond the story, which is “moral value”. Based on the researcher’s random survey on primary and junior high schools students, they enjoy reading the fable stories, however, many of them only consider fable stories as just entertaining reading texts with fauna characters and do not really know and even realize that the tales contain moral lessons or values about life (Researcher’s survey on January –June 2015) . As Bonn (2010) explains, fable as “a prose or verse narrative intended to convey a moral. Animals or inanimate objects with human characteristics often serve as characters in fables” (p.59-60) . It is very obvious that the readers can learn an essential-life lesson, more than just a fun reading from the fable. With regard to this issue, Bartens (2004) asserts that moral values are the basic standard of good and evil which governs or rules individual behaviors and choices. This view obviously indicates that moral value, in everyday life, concerns with a set of principle which is applied to evaluate right versus wrong. In literary works, moral value is seen

FAQs

What is the purpose of the research in this paper?

The paper aims to portray ethical values in three selected English fable stories and show readers that fables can teach moral lessons. It also correlates these values with real life and Islamic views.

Which fable stories are analyzed in the study?

The study analyzes three English fable stories: “The Rabbit and the Turtle,” “The Fox and the Goat,” and “The Monkey and the Crocodile.”

What research method is used to investigate the moral values?

The researcher uses a qualitative research design with descriptive analysis. Data are based on a random survey of primary and junior high school students conducted from January to June 2015.

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by dhado