The Storytelling Animal: How Stories Make Us Human Analysis

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Think of a place everyone has been but no one has stayed. The answer is Neverland. When growing up Neverland is a place for dreamers and for stories to come alive. However, after a certain age everyone stops visiting Neverland, or so they think. That idea results from the notion that stories make human beings human. Humans are complex creatures that are continuously growing and practicing for the future. In The Storytelling Animal: How Stories Make Us Human, Jonathan Gottschall demonstrates that stories are a part being human and that without stories humans will not be who they are today. Stories are an integral part of growing up because stories create an escape from reality for children and adults as they grow up, furthermore there are …show more content…

We are shaped by stories because we learn through “mythistory” which is history mixed with mythological stories to help learn about our past and ourselves since the beginning of the storytelling times (125). Therefore, storytelling has been a part of human society since the beginning of time. Humans are creatures of habit and that means they will continue to tell and live through stories because that is what they know. Gottschall eloquently states this idea throughout the novel by reiterating that humans learn from the stories told by the ancestors. Furthermore, that is why we continue to tell stories because the more we can relate to the topic at the hand the more willing a person is to continue to work towards the goal or dream. Additionally, it one can relate to the topic several others can at the same time, because whether it be reading, music, or film people everywhere are watching therefore they are connecting (137). Human instinct is to connect to on other; that attribute comes from years of stories telling children about how they are only as strong as the group they are with. Our lives are shaped by stories because our lives are about being connected to one other around the world because if one is not connect then one is not important to the world they think. Therefore, as previously mentioned stories are a

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