Throughout history, every culture has had many tales featuring prominent characters designed to convey a very important message. These stories help young and old alike understand human nature and develop appropriate social norms within their society. They feature a wide variety of topics, most teaching very important lessons about life. Many were created for oppressed people to help them overcome fear and inspire hope. Although most were written through a hard lesson learned, they now have the great effect of imparting knowledge and smiles to the audience. Almost every traditional culture has stories about tricksters. For example, Coyote, Hare, and Raven are common cunning characters in North America. African trickster stories feature the turtle, Anansi the spider, Brer Rabbit, Zomo the hare or Eshu, the mischievous messenger of the gods in Yoruba (Nigeria) legends. In European and Chinese folklore, Fox often plays this role. Monkeys are tricksters in the Far East, and among the smaller creatures the wasp and the mantis also appear. The character of the trickster is used to show the effect of someone living on the edge of the rules, often crossing the line between good and evil for selfish reasons. Trickster characters have long been traditional in Chinese folklore, fables, mythology, and theater. One of the most famous tales is that of the Monkey King from the famous Ming Dynasty novel “Journey to the West”. The Monkey King joins a devout monk on a quest to recover the holy Buddhist scriptures and bring them back from India to China. It is said that the Monkey King was born from a stone, fertilized by wind, rain and sun, and therefore contains within him the four elements of the universe. Essentially a middle of paper......the to get away from the problem at hand, the messages sent at the end of the tales are radically different. The Monkey King, in the end, gained no status but received knowledge and enlightenment. The lesson taught is that it's okay to be a little mischievous, as long as your intentions are protagonist. Brer Rabbit taught us that when we're stuck in a bad situation, playing on your enemy's common behaviors will lead to creative solutions. The story of Hermes doesn't really teach anything except the bad lesson that as long as your parents are powerful and rich, you can get away with anything. Although every culture in this world is different, they all share a common thread, the trickster. in the stories. They are often used to inspire hope in those who feel in a weaker position and help build the idea that creative thinking is true power..