Urban Legend Essay

Urban legends

Urban legends are best described a cautionary or moralistic tales passed along by those who believe (or claim) the incidents befell either folks they know personally or acquaintances of friends or family members.
The legends we tell reflect current societal concerns and fears as well as confirm the rightness of our views. It is through such stories that we attempt to make sense of our world, which at times can appear to be capricious and dangerous. As cautionary tales, urban legends warn us against engaging in risky behaviors by pointing out what has supposedly happened to others who did what we might be tempted try. Other legends confirm our belief that it’s a big bad world out there, one awash with crazed killers, drug addicts, and unscrupulous companies out to make a buck at any cost, and a government that doesn’t give a damn. A common mistake is the equation of urban legends with false (i.e. oh that’s an urban legend). Though the vast majority of such tales are pure invention, tiny handfuls do turn out to be based on real incidents. What moves true tales of this type of the world of news and into the genre of contemporary lore is the blurring of details and multiplicity of claims that the reported incidents happened locally, alterations which take place as the stories are passed through countless hands. Though there might indeed have been an original actual event, it clearly did not happen to as the various recounting of it would have one believe. Reliance and these personal ties play a great part in why we believe the stories we do. Urban legends are passed along by people we trust complicity, so it never occurs to us to doubt them. While it is true just about everyone we cherish feels the same way about us.