Who would win John Henry or Paul Bunyan?
Paul Bunyan takes all rounds easily. This is a stomp 10/10. John Henry is close to peak human and in most myths dies from beating the steam engine. In the race, the steel driving man barely wins.
What are the characteristics of Paul Bunyan?
Paul is a kind, gentle, and helpful giant, using his size and double-bladed axe to cut down trees to clear land.
What is the moral of John Henry?
John Henry demonstrates the dignity of man versus machine in his determination to succeed regardless of the cost. “John Henry” is a ballad based on a man believed to be a real African American slave who gained his freedom during the Civil War.
What does Paul Bunyan represent?
Paul Bunyan, giant lumberjack, mythical hero of the lumber camps in the United States, a symbol of bigness, strength, and vitality. The tales and anecdotes that form the Paul Bunyan legend are typical of the tradition of frontier tall tales.
Was John Henry based on a real person?
Folklorists have long thought John Henry to be mythical, but historian Scott Nelson has discovered that he was a real person—a nineteen-year-old from New Jersey who was convicted of theft in a Virginia court in 1866, sentenced to ten years in the penitentiary, and put to work building the C&O Railroad.
What is the moral of Paul Bunyan?
Moral reasoning in the story focuses on concern for relationships and concern for law and order. The theme of the story is You can make great things happen! Violence in the story is presented as humorous, positive, and negative, it is not graphic, and rewarded sometimes.
Is John Henry a legend or tall tale?
In “Steel Drivin’ Man,” Scott Reynolds Nelson argues that the John Henry story was no tall tale, and Henry himself no myth. Historians have long speculated that the John Henry ballads, which began circulating in the 1870’s, referred to a real railroad worker, but Mr.
Was John Henry Black or white?
John Henry is an American folk hero. An African American freedman, he is said to have worked as a “steel-driving man”—a man tasked with hammering a steel drill into rock to make holes for explosives to blast the rock in constructing a railroad tunnel.
Is John Henry a tall tale or legend?
Is Paul Bunyan a true story?
The short answer is no. While some of his feats might have been based on true stories, he probably was not based on a real person, despite some sources that claim he was. And despite Minnesota being particularly infatuated with the lumberjack, his origins are in Wisconsin.
Who is Paul Bunyan and why is he famous?
Paul Bunyan. Although Paul Bunyan is one of the best known figures in American “folklore,” he is largely the creation of a commercial entity: the Red River Lumber Company, which began actively promoting Paul Bunyan as a corporate logo and symbol in the first decades of the 20th century.
Who is the real John Henry?
John Henry The contrast between Paul Bunyan and John Henrycould not be greater. John Henry, the “Steel-Drivin’ Man,” was a truly popular folk hero whose famous contest is attested in popular folksongs dating back to the late 19th century.
What happened to John Henry?
When the railroad company proposed using a steam-drill to replace the hammer-man, John Henry agreed to a day-long contest, man against machine. John Henry won the contest, but died as soon as it was over. Many of the folksongs tell us that John Henry was married, and they emphasize his role as a husband or as a father.