Joel C. Harris was known for taking folk tales and myths and making them memorable by presenting them in a humorous ways through the character of Uncle Remus using the dialect of an uneducated slave. The people of this time were fascinated by local-color stories. His tales were also tales with lessons that showed it reader that bad actions had consequences. Many of his stories were taken from the blacks he had known while working on a Georgia plantation. He later worked 24 years on the staff of the "Atlanta Constitution"
This is clearly shown in “How Mr. Rabbit Was Too Sharp for Mr. Fox” as Uncle Remus tales of how the Fox wants to kill and eat the Rabbit after the Rabbit has gotten caught up with the Tar-Baby. Though the dialect of this story makes it difficult to understand at times, it is clear that Rabbit has himself in a very sticky situation. Fox and Rabbit are apparently not strangers and have had conflict before as Rabbit taunts and aggravates Fox. When Fox finds Rabbit in this situation, he plans to eat him. Rabbit being cleaver and deceitful, taunts Fox once again. Fox gives Rabbit several different ways he plans to kill him. Fox first tells Rabbit he is going to fix up a brush fire and barbecue him. Rabbit comes back and tells him that is fine just as long as he doesn’t dare throw him in the brier patch. Fox then threats to hang him then drown him and even skin him. With each threat, Rabbit comes back with the same taunt. Rabbit tells him each threat is fine just as long as Fox doesn’t throw him in that brier patch. Fox then wanting to hurt Rabbit as bad as he could, he grabs him by his back legs and slung him in the bushes right into the brier patch. Fox quickly learns he has been deceived as he sees Rabbit up on the hill sitting cross-legged and gloating. Rabbit then hollers out at Fox that he was bred and born in a brier pat and then skips off.
The other story by Joel C. Harris called “Free Joe and The Rest of The World” was a very heart touching story of a slave named Joe who has been given his freedom to only find himself worse off. His former owner who has passed away had lost Joe’s wife due gambling and her current owner will not allow Joe to visit her. Since he is a free man, even the other black slaves dislike him due to jealousy and the white people are always suspicious of him. Joe finds himself alone except for his little dog Dan. Joe ends up at Micajah Staley and his sister Becky’s place which is next to the property of the Calderwood’s property where his wife Lucinda lives. From a big popular tree he would sit and sometimes he could hear his wife’s voice. Once day, his little dog went and got Lucinda and brought her to where Joe was. This became their meeting place until the other slaves found out and told on Lucinda and her owner shipped her off. Joe, not knowing what had happened, sat under that popular for over a month waiting for his wife. He slowly realized she would not be returning. One night, Dan wondered off and a pack of dogs killed him. Joe all alone sits day after day under that popular tree until the day he died. This was such a sad story with an unfortunate ending. However, I did enjoy the reading. I just wish it hadn’t had been so depressing.
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