Category Archives: Legends

Narratives about belief.

Bomb Shelter High School – Legend

Nationality: Canadian/White
Age: 20
Occupation: Student
Residence: Los Angeles
Performance Date: March 27 2023
Primary Language: English

Context:

This legend is from K’s friend of a friend. K was born in Canada but moved to southern California when they were 10 where K went to school. K is currently a sophomore studying Screenwriting at SCA.

Text:

K’s high school circulated a story about a bunker under the auditorium that had built as a bomb shelter that had been built during the Second World War. “Which, in retrospect doesn’t really make sense because our high school was built after that.” Basically, one of K’s friends wanted to confirm if it was true. There was an upper-field area that he searched in, the auditorium area that he searched underneath, and eventually he gave up trying to find it. But, K’s AP Environmental Science teacher was like “Hey, don’t worry, it definitely exists.” So, K’s friend went back and tried to find it. K believes it might have originated from the orchestra pit, and a student seeing something freaky down there. Regardless, the story has become something the seniors tend to pass on to the freshman.

Analysis:

This narrative is a legend; it is set in a time in history that’s remained to the present and the basis of the story is whether or not it is real or fake. Legends often explore if the improbable or impossible is, in fact, possible and in doing so make their audience question whether or not the impossible truly is possible in the real world. The readers can examine their perception of what the real world may be. In the case of the school, the students will always have something to be curious and engaged about. Most children’s lore, including teenagers, are anti-hegemonic for the larger education system. For high school, this evolves into a more intentional and rebellious perception of the outside world. To have a story that introduces inherent falsehood in the school, I believe these teenagers will have something to place their growing pains and rebellious energy in. The backstory of the bomb shelter being built during World War II, or even the Cold War, easily becomes both a flashback into the power of the past and also the absurdity of it; the very thought of a nuclear bomb now seems ridiculous and unlikely. When students place their interest or belief into this possibly true blast from the past, they will place themselves on a high moral pedestal from which to judge history. This encourages childhood anti-hegemony and confidence in themselves, that we have evolved past a time where we needed bomb shelters.

Rosie the School Mascot – Legend

Nationality: Canadian
Age: 20
Occupation: Student
Residence: Los Angeles
Performance Date: March 27 2023
Primary Language: English

Context:

A is a sophomore at USC studying Screenwriting. A was born in Canada but moved to the United States when A was 10. The below text is a legend at A’s elementary school and, according to A, was the origin of how the school is decorated.

Text:

A’s elementary school has a fox as a mascot and they circulated a story about how they had gotten a fox as a mascot. “Why did they choose Rosie the Fox? This is why, this is the story we heard from teachers and friends but it was never confirmed by the school.” Basically, decades before, while a teacher was taking her kids out for recess, they found an injured fox lying in a ditch near campus. The kids all pleaded with the teacher to treat the fox, and they ended up taking it to school (principal or nurse’s office). They gave the fox a splint and eventually nursed it back to health (A did specify that the fox did not bite). Over the course of days, all the students got super attached tot he fox and named it Rosie, after the school’s name.

It got to the point where the fox was very tame. When the leg healed, they released it and all the kids were super sad about it. But, after that point, the fox would always come back. At recess, kids would see it standing on the side of the woods watching them play at recess. Eventually, obviously, the fox died and the school ended up naming the mascot after the fox in order to carry on the legacy of Rosie. A’s elementary now has a lot of culture surrounding Rosie. During A’s time there, they even had a whole festival or day surrounding Rosie.

Analysis:

The above narrative is a story that is highly probable, so much so that the school themselves indulge in it as if it was truth even though it has never been proven legitimately. A specifies that it has not been proven historically, and perhaps there may never be a way to prove it, but here is an example of folk history secluded to a school. The contemporary setting of the narrative makes the story an urban legend, however the deep belief with which the school puts in Rose the Fox makes the truth of her existence inconsequential. In my opinion, even if the school did find out Rosie wasn’t actually real, it wouldn’t matter. She became a legend ingrained as almost fact for the school, therefore what they think happened matters more than the unknown of what actually happened. Furthermore, being good to nature, kind to all creatures, and community are values upheld and respected in schools. Not only is Rosie the fox a heartwarming story to tell young students, but an example of how to behave at school. Rosie’s story provides an almost-forbidden rule broken by the school itself; letting an injured fox’s leg heal. It almost gives the audience room to make mistakes, using something as sutble as a fox to encourage breaking rules for kindness. Here is another reason why it doesn’t matter if the legend of Rosie is true or not.

Hearing the Murders of Charles Manson


Text:

Growing up in Los Angeles during the 60s. I would run and play around the city when I was living with my dad. One night, I was out with some friends, and we were up to no good playing inside a small canyon that split up a local neighborhood. We then heard a toe-curling scream from somewhere off in the distance. The type of scream where you know something really bad just happened. We totally freaked out, we quickly fled the area. 

This was something I was too scared to reveal to my dad. I honestly had many questions in regards to what I heard. I had trouble coming to terms with the fact that I heard something terrible that night. My friends and I were too scared to go into that part of the city again.

This sat with me and my friends for months after the incident until Charles Manson’s name was published across every news outlet in the area. We were right next to the murders the night they took place. I remember the day I found this out better than the night I heard the screams. I’m guessing because I was so scared. I remember my friend coming to my house, sweating. I couldn’t tell if he was excited, nervous, or relieved. Definitely some combination of every emotion possible. For us to be so close to such a notorious murder, it really makes you question your own safety. Especially at such a young age.

Context:

The informant grew up in LA and has lived there their entire life. The informant originally couldn’t remember his age at the time of the memorate, but after some research, he can now confirm that he was six years old at the time. The young age does leave some room for the possibility that his account is some type of misconception, but they stand by what happened. At the time, he was the youngest of the group of kids who heard the scream, so the older kids have kind of acted as a piece of evidence for the informant as they have gotten older and their memory of the situation has become blurry.

Analysis:

I have heard this memorate countless times as I have grown up. I have always believed the informant when I have heard this story, but it is something that shocks me to this day. I can imagine the lasting impact that this can have on somebody. The informant definitely uses this story as a cautionary tale. Something that I have heard when I am being warned about the unknown harms this world can bring forward. Memorants are special because they are often unexplainable incidents that are later explained with legendary means. There is no proof that the informant heard the murders that night, but associating the scream with the Manson murders has allowed this story to live on for so long.

New York was Purchased for $24

Text:

The island of Manhattan was purchased from the Native Americans who inhabited the land for twenty-four dollars worth of goods. When the Dutch came across the Atlantic and into the Americas, land was so cheap they were able to purchase the land in exchange for some goods. 

Context

The informant grew up in the city of Manhattan and remembers talking about this myth inside of their elementary school classroom. They talk of how everyone who tells this story chopped the low price to inflation. The informant believed that twenty-four dollars was a lot back then. He believed that the craziest part of the story is how crazy inflation is rather than the abuse of power that took place. I then pulled out an inflation calculator, and $24 dollars when the Dutch first landed in New York is worth about $2,000 now. Pennies in comparison to the vast amounts of wealth the Dutch had at the time. The informant now views this myth in a different light. Before, they saw the story had a connotation of “wow, the dollar used to go so far”. Now they see the story as exposing how “Native Americans were totally robbed”. 

Analysis

This myth is really interesting given how time can really affect the impact it will have on people who hear it. Because the informant heard this story as a child, it carried with it a sense of innocence. As he has gotten older and Americans have begun to recognize the brutality of colonization, the story very quickly changes tone. What was once a fun little tidbit about the city is now a scar that has been passed down generations. This is a story that could be about the abuse of power on the colonizers part, native Americans being gullible and stupid, or that both parties had the best intentions in mind and everyone was happy after the exchange. The implications of this founding myth can vary widely from person to person. This is also a wonderful example of how the lines between myth and legend are often blurred. Although this is a founding story for the island of Manhattan, it is likely untrue.

The Butterfly Lovers

Nationality: Chinese-American
Age: 19
Occupation: Student
Residence: Los Angeles, CA
Performance Date: March 26, 2023
Primary Language: English
Language: Chinese

Text: “This is the story of the Butterfly Lovers–it’s really well known and is like the Romeo and Juliet of Chinese legends. So one day, a long time ago, back when women weren’t allowed to be educated or go to school, there was a young lady who wanted desperately to be educated, but her parents told her that she couldn’t. However, she was determined to find a way to go to school and devised a plan to get into a boarding school by dressing as a boy. She managed to get into school and no one suspected anything. While she was away at school, she became really close friends with a guy, and they did everything together, though he didn’t know she was a girl. But as she got older, it became harder and harder for her to hide it. One day, while she was taking a bath in the river, some boys came to make fun of her and were trying to get her to come out, but she couldn’t and her friend came and chased them away. He told her to come out and she told him that he had to turn around, which he did. Once school ended, it was time for her to get married, and she told him that she had to leave, and he got very upset. So she left and was forced into an arranged marriage with a wealthy aristocrat. Her old friend found out that she was a girl and asked to marry her, but the parents said no since the other marriage had already been arranged. So, the two of them ran away and jumped off a cliff, killing themselves since they couldn’t be together. The parents were distraught and realized they should’ve allowed the marriage, so as a last attempt to let them be together, they buried them together in the cemetery under the same gravestone. But at the funeral, lightning struck the gravestone and split it in half, and out of the gravestone flew two butterflies–a pink one and a blue one–and both flew off together into the night.” 

Context: The informant is a 19-year old Chinese-American student who initially heard this as a bedtime story from her parents when she was younger; however, she recently remembered it while working on a screenplay and asked her mother to retell it to her.


Analysis: This legend represents a poignant form of social critique. In The Butterfly Lovers, two young lovers are prevented from pursuing a life together due to the institutions of arranged marriage forced upon them. As the informant acknowledged, it bears some striking similarities to Romeo and Juliet, which was also the story of a couple’s demise following the imposition of an arranged marriage. However, it is not just in the play’s explicit critique of arranged marriage that draws my interest, but also its more implicit, symbolic critique that is worth exploring. Legends have the characteristic ability to blend reality with the supernatural, and the supernatural element can be used as a tool to express or reinforce a social critique or function. This story utilizes the supernatural in this exact way in order to implicitly critique the oppressive and unethical institution of forced marriage. Not only is this message made explicit in how the lover’s kill themselves and their parents’ subsequent regret, but it is twice reinforced by the legend’s symbolic conclusion with the two butterflies that spawn once lightning strikes and fly away together into the night. A butterfly is a well-known symbol of metamorphosis, and in this instance, it represents a transformation into spirit, where the protagonists are no longer tethered to worldly expectations and are free to be together in a new, transcendent form. In other words, and excuse the cliché (although its pertinence and pervasiveness in our culture cannot be denied), love will always find a way, and thus our attempts in society to restrict and control it through arranged weddings, banning gay marriage, etc. will never truly succeed. I believe this legend, perhaps in a way similar to myth, naturalizes love and suggests that oppressive institutions and regulations should never be enforced on it. In reality, the story suggests, love will always adapt and find a way to circumvent the futile attempts to control it. It seems to critique the ancient Confucian principles that prioritize love as duty and commitment in marriage, rather than genuine emotional attachment, and acknowledges that love can exist separately from marriage, which is a fascinatingly progressive message for a piece of ancient Chinese lore. In all, this legend is more than a bittersweet love story, but rather a commentary on the nature of love itself. However, this could have very well been a more recent variation that took on a new meaning to conform to contemporary values and attitudes, whereas older versions which may have taken a more conservative stance that aligned more closely with Confucian ideals.