The Bundle of Sticks

On Friday, September 7, we had our first-of-the-year All School Assembly. All School Assemblies occur periodically throughout the year and are intended to build a sense of community. After the traditional beginning -- the students stood and sang the school song -- it was my turn. For me this was not just the first assembly of the year, but my FIRST interaction with all the SFDS students. As my introduction to the students as their new Head of School, I decided to tell and act out a fable from Aesop called “The Bundle of Sticks.”

I am dressed as the Head of School, shirt, tie, and pressed slacks. On stage there is a stool and a folded umbrella, resting simply against the stool. I begin by explaining that one of my responsibilities is to teach students right from wrong. I state that often the preferred manner of instruction in learning right from wrong is a stern lecture, one that cites the rules and the consequences of violating the rules. But today, I announce, I am not going to do that. Spontaneously the crowd of students breaks out into enthusiastic applause. When the room quiets, I tell them that instead I am going to tell a story that has a moral at the end. Rather than tell them what the story means, I will ask them to figure out what the story is illustrating.

I select eight eager volunteers from grades 6, 7, and 8 to come down from the audience and listen closely. After the fable, they will share with everyone what they believe the moral to be.

Before beginning, I pause to tuck my tie into my shirt so as not to have it flopping around. I come forward to the edge of the stage. What is it, I ask, that you really need for a good story? It is something you cannot see, cannot touch, and cannot smell. A student answers quickly: The imagination. Absolutely, I agree. I emphasize the power of that answer and encourage everyone to stimulate his or her imagination. I then ask the students if they know of an ancient storyteller, someone else who told fables as a way to teach children right from wrong. One student mentions Homer and the Odyssey! The next student answers Aesop.

I take a seat on the stool to begin Aesop’s fable, The Bundle of Sticks. As I tell the story, I assume the identity of each character.

An old man is ready to turn over his land and all its possessions to one of his three children. They are constantly bickering with one other and vying for the father's favor. He gives them a bundle of sticks and says the one who can break it will become the inheritor of the family's possessions. As the old man, I am bent over and wincing in pain as I present this challenge to my children. One child, the eldest, always brags that he is the strongest. He tries to smash the bundle over his knee and winces in pain, failing to break the bundle. As the oldest child, I am loud, prancing and posturing. The second child, always bragging about her skill with tools, tries to cut it with an axe, but fails. Knowing that the right tool is essential to complete any task, the second child then cranks up a noisy power chain saw (with the help of the audience), but she too is unable to break the bundle. Finally the third child, notably the quietest, pauses, stares and thinks for a while. After sitting on the stool and contemplating, I untie the bundle and break the sticks one by one, until the entire bundle is broken. The third child, of course, succeeds and wins the father’s approval.

After concluding the story, I ask the group of Upper Schoolers to discuss the meaning of the fable. Here is a sampling of what they said.

“All you need is pure mind. If you don’t think, you can’t do much. Of course, you have to a have a body and arms to do things, but your mind is important.”

“It’s OK to have strong arms and strong tools, but without a strong mind you get nowhere.”

“The story demonstrates the power of one – if you take one stick at a time the whole bundle is broken.”

“If you have the ability to think it will overcome strength and power tools. You can do anything.”

“The bundle of sticks represented one’s goals. Each person can achieve their goals in different ways, through strength, tools or logic. But if you stop and think about the best way to do something, you will actually succeed.”

“Thinking is a strength.”

“The way to reach your goals is to think it out and use logic, as opposed to brawn and force.”

“The only way to get homework done is to do it and think it through.”

“Don’t wait to do your homework, because if you do it will pile up like a bundle of sticks.”

“The bundle of sticks represents strength in numbers – when we’re a community and working as a team we’re stronger.”

“If you take the time and go at a task, rather than trying to do it all at once, you will succeed.”

Your children were an enthusiastic and attentive audience. At the end they were thinking about the moral and interested in what the Upper Schoolers had to say. I encourage parents to talk with your children about their impressions of the fable. Ask them how it might apply to their lives. There is, of course, not just one right answer.

My hope is that the story will become a vivid memory. When conflicts arise in the classroom, in the hallways, and on the playground, perhaps the children will pause, remember the three siblings, and think of a way out of the conflict that was not immediately obvious.

Perhaps, as you are reading this blog, you are wondering, how does a school community help children develop character and the ability to do the right thing? What behaviors and series of interactions between adults and children represent credible and accessible authority? How do values become internalized so that we actively guide our behavior to be consistent with our stated values? Again, there is, of course, not just one right answer.

Here is a traditional text of the fable:
http://www.yankeeweb.com/library/storytime/fables/fables_46.html