Tao of Pooh Critical Analysis
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 thi
nk. 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. I feel that the way that Benjamin Hoff has chose to explain the principle of the Uncarved Block is a very creative and effective way. This is a simple book and it does not take much thinking or scholarly knowledge to read; just about anybody can read and understand this book. I believe that he was trying to teach the uninformed about the principles of Taoism and the Uncarved Block and I think that he successfully accomplished that by writing this book. How he decides to use Winnie the Pooh, stories that everybody is familiar with, is such a magnificent way to explain the principles of Taoism. He definitely got his point across. I do not think that he is trying to make you believe in the principles of Taoism or the Uncarved Block, but that he is just trying to teach you or inform you of them. I believe that he does accomplish that. Using Winnie the Pooh is a very clever way of going about that. I loved this book. I can honestly say that I did not really understand Taoism or where it was coming from before I read this book. Now I do. I think that by comparing the principles of the Uncarved Block to Winnie the Pooh characters and using them to explain it was a brilliant idea. It really helped me understand it. I was not confused at all throughout the book. I was a little confused in the beginning because I was reading too much into it. Then I realized that I did not need to read into anything at all, but I just needed to simply read the book. I am so used to having to look into things when I read. I love how he chose such an easy way to describe Taoism. It is such a complic
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Approximate Word count = 1408
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page double spaced)
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