Tao Of Pooh And Taoism Essays - Kingdom Hearts Characters, Film

Tao Of Pooh And Taoism In The Tao of Pooh, Benjamin Hoff uses the characters from Winnie the Pooh to explain the fundamentals of Taoism. By observing the actions of Eeyore, Piglet, Rabbit, Owl, Tigger, and Pooh, he decides that the action of the character Pooh best describes Taoism. The most important principle of Taoism is the Uncarved Block. Hoff uses Pooh to best explain the Uncarved Block. The principle of the Uncarved Block is that things in their original simplicity contain their own natural power, power that is easily spoiled and lost when that simplicity is changed. He uses these characters to show how things can be spoiled and lost and also how things can just work out. Hoff uses Rabbit to show that when you always have to be on the run doing something and being busy, usually you miss things and you do not enjoy life. It can often screw up things to always have to figure things out and always feel like you are important. He uses Owl to show that when you are always looking for a reason for something then it often makes things too complicated. Hoff uses Piglet in the sense that Piglet is always scared and hesitating things, if Piglet would not hesitate, he would get things done in a much more efficient way. He should just do, not think. Hoff explains the character of Eeyore by showing how he is always worried about things; he frets a lot. If he would not do that, then life would be much easier for Eeyore. And finally, there is Pooh. Hoff shows how Pooh does not think or ponder about things; he just does them. Things always work out for Pooh because of this. Pooh works along with nature and he does not try to interfere. Pooh leads a simple life. This can also be explained as the life and actions of a Taoist. Hoff's purpose of this book is a didactic purpose. He wrote the book to inform people of Taoism. He wanted to teach the ways and beliefs of a Taoist. He wanted to teach in a way that everyone could understand or relate too, that is why he used Winnie the Pooh. Everybody understands Pooh. He thought that it would be an easy and simple way to get the point across to not just the scholarly, but the normal public. For example, Hoff states: "...we won't try too hard or explain too much, because that would only Confuse things, and because it would leave the impression that it was all only an intellectual idea that could be left on the intellectual level and ignored." (p. 10) He uses each chapter of the book to teach a new principle of the Uncarved Block of Taoism. In each chapter he tells a Winnie the Pooh story and then explains how it relates to Taoism. Hoff writes a chapter teaching how cleverness does not always help, but it sometimes destroys things and is the reason that things do not work out. Hoff teaches that the Taoist believe that if you understand Inner Nature it is far more effective than knowledge or cleverness. He uses a poem "Cottleston Pie". The poem explains how things just are as they are and how people try to violate these principles with their everyday lives. He also uses a story of Tigger and Roo. Tigger tries to be something he is not and he ends up just screwing things up and getting stuck in a tree. Hoff also explains that working with Nature is best in the sense that you do not screw things up with a story about Eeyore getting stuck in the river. Everybody had been trying to think of clever ways to get Eeyore out of the river when Pooh said that if they just dropped a big stone into it, then it would just wash Eeyore ashore. He did it without even thinking, because thinking would complicate things, and of course it worked. Pooh worked with Nature and things worked out for him. As you can see, Hoff uses many different Winnie the Pooh stories to teach the uncomplicated ways of the Taoist. The only arguments that Hoff really presents is whether or not the Taoist way is the best way and whether or not it really works. When you look at it from the point of Pooh and the stories from The House at Pooh Corner you really believe that what the Taoist believe is the best