Just an Essay

So I wrote this at three am when I couldn't sleep one day, apparently. I don't remember writing it:/

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The nursery rhyme “Mary Had a Little Lamb” is inaccurate and childish for many reasons.

For one, there are many questions that were raised in the text. In lines 5-6, the poem states “it followed her to school one day, which was against the rules” (Mary Had a Little Lamb, 5-6). This is inaccurate for many reasons. For one, where were Mary’s parents? Why did they let her lamb follow her to school? It’s not that hard to keep a lamb contained. Also, why did they let her bond with this little lamb, when chances were, they were raising it for dinner meat? And also, did the lamb have a name? Where were the lamb’s parents? Didn't they know better than to let their child wander after a hungry human through crowded streets? It could have gotten hit by a car, or picked up for food. The chances that the lamb would follow Mary and make it to school alive were slim to none. 

Also, the fact that the lamb stayed around when the teacher kicked it out was unrealistic. The text says, “and so the teacher turned it out, but still it lingered near/ and waited patiently about till Mary did appear” (Mary Had A Little Lamb, 9-12). For anyone who has spent any time around sheep, the tendency to wander will be recognized. Therefore, as a young lamb especially, this sheep will be likely to wander off and get hurt or lost because of its instincts. This is the reason why herding dogs are used: to round up wandering livestock, so unless there was a dog around, it is unlikely that the lamb would stay situated in one place, especially for the rest of the school day. 

However, the text claims that the children asked why the lamb loved Mary, to which the teacher replied that Mary loved the lamb. However, it does not work that way. The lamb would not be likely to stay in one place for a bond alone, especially for a young lamb, as this one presumably is. Unlike most birds, sheep do not have a tendency to immediately imprint on another animal or object, so it should not be assumed that the lamb and Mary have such a strong bond that the lamb would wait for her for hours. 

These types of uneducated assumptions are what cause the world to go up in flames, and this poor excuse for a nursery rhyme may cause children on farms to become overly attached to livestock, have unrealistic expectations for how young animals behave, and even cause the animals to be put in danger if they try to bring them to school or have the animals follow them.

Therefore, “Mary Had A Little Lamb” is unrealistic and unknowledgeable, and it should not be read to children anymore, as it will corrupt their minds and put unholy ideas in their head that will likely lead to the demise of many animals and the despair of many children.