Story Review of Greyling

The story “Greyling” written by Jane Yolen talks about a fishermen’s family. The fishermen had many fish and his net was always full, but his wife always mourned for they had no child to have. The fishermen also mourned about this but he would never say this outloud, because he does not want his wife to be even more sad. One day, when the fisherman was fishing, he saw a seal pup with no parents. So he took it up with his shirt, and went home, when he got home he said it was nothing to his wife. But when she looked at it, she saw it was a baby, not a seal pup. She named the baby Greyling, and never let it go by the sea, afraid it would leave them. A few years later there was an uncontrollable storm, and the fisherman was out on sea still. The villagers did not want to help the fisherman, so his wife cried. Greyling said he would go, but his mom did not want him to, afraid she would lose him, but he went anyway. He had helped the fisherman, and left as a seal, the villagers thought he had died but he was just a seal, and he only came back once a year. 

When we are sad, we would either express it out loud or we keep it to ourselves, so nobody would have the burden to carry our weight to. Further explanation In the story of Greyling, the wife had moped and cried expressing her sorrow out loud, of not having a baby. The husband had also moped and cried, but instead of expressing all of it and telling his wife it, he kept it hidden while fishing, so his wife would not have more of a burden. When we are sad we usually express it out loud, showing people we are sad. But the husband is doing the opposite, knowing his wife that if he also cries and mourns then he would make his wife’s mourning worse. What the fisherman is doing is good, because he sees how his wife is acting and puts her in front of him, by not moping out loud to make a bigger burden for the wife. When we are sad we should not always mourn our sadness, but sometimes we should keep it to ourselves, and not bring burden to others if they are sad. 

It is not right to take something that does not belong to you and have it against its will. When the fishermen had taken the seal back home with him, and when it turned to a baby he felt something was wrong. Even though he had agreed to keep the baby and it brought his wife and him joy, he thought it was wrong to keep a baby that is not theirs. The wife thought that nothing was wrong, and that her life had gotten much better. But then at the end when Greyling was older, he went to save the fisherman who almost died and caused great sorrow for the wife. The wife had lost Greyling once he saved the fisherman from dying. When you steal something, then yours should not expect it to be yours to keep. The fisherman’s wife had thought of Greyling as it was hers, even though it wasn’t. But at the end Greyling had left the Fisherman’s wife and she never had a baby again. It is not right for a person to steal something and keep it because it is not rightfully theirs, instead they should just give it back to the owner. 

When given difficult choices you may achieve one goal, but lose another in the process. At the end of the story, Greyling was the only one to volunteer to save the Fisherman unlike the other folks, but the wife did not want him to, fearing that he would never come back when he entered. The wife had a difficult decision of leaving her husband whom she loved very much, by not letting Greyling go, or letting Greyling leave, and never seeing Greyling again. The wife though did not have to make the decisions, because Greyling went to the water and saved the fisherman, but did not come back for a while. I believe what Greyling did was the right choice, because he still sometimes comes back to tell stories to the fisherman and his wife. But if Greyling did not do that, then they will be in loneliness, because of having the fisherman die and lose joy. When you have tough decisions to make, you should always go with the one that you think is right, like what Greyling did, of sacrificing himself. 

The story Greyling by Jane Yolen talks about a fisherman and his wife. With no joy in their life the fisherman finds a seal that turns into a child upon land. A few years later, Greyling the child, sees the fisherman drowning, and even though the fisherman’s wife does not want him to go afraid of losing him, he goes anyway. Greyling saves the fisherman but returns back to a seal in the ocean. When we are sad we would usually express it out loud, like the wife did, but the fisherman did not, knowing that it will add more weight to his wife. It is not right to take something that does not belong to you, like the wife had already accepted the child even though it is not hers, but another seal. When you are given difficult choices, it is hard to choose, like if you achieve something you must lose something. In the story Greyling leaves to save the fisherman, and that is a difficult choice for him, because he could be lost in the oceans. The story Greyling is a magnificent book, talking about many unique themes in the text.