MANAYON, ALLYSA NICOLE C.

AUGUST 02, 2023

HUMANITIES AND SOCIAL SCIENCE 12-1 APP 002

❝The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood❞

Howard Pyle is a renowned author, artist, and illustrator. He is mostly remembered for
the creation of the infamous Robin Hood. "The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood," which was
published in 1883 by Scriner's, was also illustrated and written by him. The story goes with
Robin Hood being an outlaw due to the fact that he accidentally killed a forester during an
archery competition, and the Sheriff would hunt him down to kill him. The adventures of Robin
Hood in the story are set on how the rich kept chasing him down and Robin stole the evildoers
to give back to those in need and to use them in somehow good deeds. In this story, Robin
Hood is indeed a hero, although his means, which are stealing, are not appropriate, even if his
intentions were good. If I were in the same situation as Robin Hood, I might do the same thing
as well.

If we were to elaborate and seek in-depth analysis of whether Robin is either a hero or a
villain, some may say he is, and some may say he is not. As for me, during this time, he was a
hero. I remembered that there is this part of the story where he scolds Little John, an outlaw as
well, for stealing from the Sheriff. He said that Little John shouldn’t be stealing from a person
who did not misdeed him. Although Robin himself does this act, those who are sick should seek
financial help from the people. Also, Robin trades food and clothes to give these to the beggars,
who have no means at all. In other words, he is a hero because of his kindness and his bravery
in fighting against oppressive people who urge him to push oppressive laws. That being said,
stealing is not a good thing, even if the intentions are good. But from another perspective, you
can say that Robin’s actions aren’t too bad because he isn't stealing from "good" people but
from those who are pretentious, and those who accumulate their money through wrongdoing
seem to have instant karma. As they say, "the end justifies the means. Regardless, stealing is
still not a good thing, even if the intentions were good. If I were to place myself in Robin’s shoes,
yes. I would do the same thing because he is being chased for being good in his field, archery,
and for accidentally killing someone. But he was trying to change his life outside the Sherwood
Forest and achieve a peaceful life away from the law, along with the other outlaws. But no
matter how he tried, rich people kept coming to him and chasing him for various reasons that
ended up making him seem like the bad guy, including how the Sheriff is treating him and the
other people. It was oppressive. In the eyes of Robin, he was just trying to defend the
oppressed. I wouldn’t stay silent if that were the scenario being given. When searching for the
author’s intention, the first thing you’d see is that it was written to entertain, and reading it was
indeed entertaining, but to me, the author’s intention was to make an example of someone who
knows how to stand his ground. Certainly, its intention is also to show brotherhood, because the
outlaw members, regardless of the situation, never left and instead stood by each other’s sides
even in crucial situations.

In conclusion, Robin Hood preaches about not stealing from people who did not do you
wrong, but he does the same to pretentious people who like to use this facade to gain money.
Even so, stealing is still stealing, which is a wrong act even if the intentions are good. Robin,
stealing from these people isn’t good, but again, from the other person’s perspective, this might
be called "karma" for those people taking advantage of others' kindness. With that, Robin is a
hero despite the means; his act also proves the saying "the end justifies the means" because, at
the end of the day, he was still helping people and teaching the evil-doers a lesson. This story or
work is definitely significant because these events are somehow familiar to us in our country.
This story makes a huge impact as it teaches us, of course, not to steal but to stand our ground,
to make a choice either to stay silent or to fight and break the chain, especially for the
oppressed. It also served its sole purpose, which is to entertain. We all have a version of Robin
Hood, and maybe we are also Robin in more ways than one.

Reference:

‌ oward Pyle | American writer and illustrator. (n.d.). Encyclopedia Britannica.

H
https://www.britannica.com/biography/Howard-Pyle

The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood: Full Book Summary. (n.d.). SparkNotes.
https://www.sparknotes.com/lit/robin-hood/summary/

‌ he Merry Adventures of Robin Hood. (n.d.). Plugged In. Retrieved July 27, 2023, from
T
https://www.pluggedin.com/book-reviews/merry-adventures-of-robin-hood/