The Desert Fox: An Allegory

Author’s Commentary:

WWII was one of the biggest wars in history. The nickname for the war was dessert fox

which is where we got the inspiration for our title. In the war there were the main axis powers

(Germany and Japan) and the Allied powers( Britain, United States, and the Soviet Union). The

dictator of Germany, Adolf Hitler, was the main cause of the war due to his belief that The Aryan

race was superior to all other and he became greedy for power. He discriminated against all the

Jews and convinced many of the citizens and influential people in Germany that they were

supernatural creatures such as vampires, werewolves, and witches and that they were the scum of

the earth that they needed to eradicate. Germany started taking more land and alienating the jews

by enslaving them in concentration camps, killing more than six million Jews. If it wasn’t for the

allied powers finally stepping in and stopping Germany, the casualties and damage could have

been even worse. In our story we use the symbolism of the animals to represent each person or

country mainly involved in the war. For example we have hitler being represented as a desert fox

as that is the nickname for the war and the name of the fox is Belial, a Hebrew word used to

characterize the wicked or worthless. Also The Nazis are represented as Jaguars(power, ferocity,

and valor; he is the embodiment of aggressiveness,power to face one's fears, or to confront one's

enemies), USA is represented as Tigers(strength, cunning, majesty, independence, and

immortality), The Jews are represented as Leopards(strength, power, courage, and determination.

Leopard spirit animals can also teach us the importance of being resourceful and mindful of our

surroundings. Seeing a leopard in your life means it's time to pay attention. Something is about

to happen, and you need to be alert.), Great Britain is represented as Parrots(voice,

communication, and the power of words), and The Soviet Union is represented as

crocodiles(fierceness, authority, and the power of the water element). Our main lesson is that the

greed for power and hate for others who are different can cause mass destruction and dysfunction

for the entire world.

Where the nights are as cold as winter’s icy breath and the days are like the hot coals of a

glowing fire. Where no cuddly creature dares to tread and the desolate ground knows not the

faintest image of water, lies a lonely and resentful fox. A fox is subject to many descriminations.

In ancient China the fox was seen as a sign of longevity, good fortune, fertility, and wealth, but in

Europe they were seen as a nuisance, a creature that was fabricated to do nothing but mischief

and spread bad luck like a disease. In this case, this fox does not elude his characterizations.

Belial was a fox of many deceptions, but one’s choices always have a way of coming back to

you. This particular day, Belial had gone too far. He decided he should once again challenge the

rules of his society he lived in. There was a kind and just ruler of desert foxes, but when it came

to Belial kind and just were the biggest challenges for him. Belial would be insufferable until he

would get his way and this was his last straw, so he was banished from the desolate land. He

struggled and trudged through the glaring heat of the sun and the scorching hot sand, until he

came upon a place where there was no sand at all. There were leafy green trees and colors that he

had never even seen before. Could this be what the others described as a jungle, he thought?

Belial didn’t know what this place was, but he knew he had to take it for himself. Suddenly, he

flinched as he heard a rustle in the bushes, but when he looked over nothing was there.

Something or someone was there, but what was it? Without a minute to breath Belial was swiftly

taken off of the ground and pinned to the floor. It was a beast! Belial didn’t know what to do. He
had never encountered such a thing before in the desert, but as all foxes have, he had a sly idea to

get himself out of a scuffle. He proceeded to tell the beast of his own great intelligence and how

he could make sparing him worth his while. He spun a lie so great that no one could ever

untangle it. He promised the beast great power and as all know, power was the greatest desire of

any predator. So, the beast took Belial to meet the members of his shadow to devise a plan of

action. Belial was a fantastic speaker. His words would capture anyone in a trance and he spoke

in such a way that made him sound like the absolute truth was pouring from his mouth as if god

had said it himself. The beasts were inspired by his revolutionary plans for power and

domination and welcomed him as their fellow comrade.

Meanwhile on the other side of the jungle, there was a meeting of the minds. There was

danger brewing in the jungle and the leopards knew it. The leopards assembled their friends the

Parrots, the tigers, and the crocodiles to discuss the recent disturbance. The leopards explained

how several of their kind had been going missing and they knew it had to do with the jaguars.

The jaguars have always despised the leopards for centuries, but no one knows why. The

leopards were furious that the jaguars might be behind the disappearances, but the parrots, tigers,

and crocodiles thought that the leopards were overreacting. Afterall, eventhough they didn’t

particularly like the jaguars, they had never done something as far as to harm the leopards. The

leopards then went back to their home defeated that their friends wouldn’t help them, only to be

ambushed and surrounded by no one other than the jaguars themselves. The jaguars captured all

the leopards and brought them back to their territory to work for them until they withered away.

The jaguars believed they were the superior jungle cats and that they were born to be the kings of

the jungle. Also, they never liked the leopards. They thought them to be vile animals not worth

even the scrapes of their mighty bounties and they were always forced to share as the rules of the
jungle’s society forced them to, but the jaguars were done sharing, especially with the inferior

leopards. Weeks passed and the tigers, parrots, and crocodiles started to notice how there seemed

to be less and less prey to be hunted and they hadn’t heard from their friends the leopards in quite

a while. They began to realize with great dread that the only one that could be behind this is the

jaguars. They had to come up with a plan to save the leopards… before it was too late.

On the other side of the jungle, Belial was very satisfied with himself. He had finally

found a place where he was feared, respected, and seen for his true potential. He was now the

apex predator and he was not giving it up. He looked around his territory and saw the leopards in

their cages and the cliff that led to the crocodile infested waters that claimed so many leopard’s

lives as he grinned and hummed a sing-songy tune to himself.

The leopards were extremely worried. They had seen so many of their friends and family

be stripped away from them. They wondered if they would ever be released from this torture. All

day the jaguars will have them hunt until the late hours of the night and none of that hunt would

ever go to them. They felt themselves slowly withering away to nothing. Those who weren’t

brought to the crocodile waters would slowly starve or break down and the weak were always

disposed of. They were at the mercy of the jaguars, but the jaguars had none.

The tigers, parrots, and crocodiles had finally conceived a plan and banded together to

defeat the jaguars. So one night they sent the parrots on a recon mission to gain more information

on how they could defeat the jaguars. The parrots glided above the territory of the jaguars being

careful not to fly too low. They saw the leopards entrapped in cages and they seemed to have no

life within them. Then, just as the parrots were about to fly down to help the leopards, they saw a

group of jaguars emerge from a cave, but they weren’t the only ones there. Beside the jaguars

was a small tan creature, a fox! The parrots were for once, at a loss for words. How could a fox
be near the jaguars, yet not fear for their life, they thought? Could the fox be behind this? The

parrots hid in the roof top of a tree to watch what they might do and they were astonished to see

the fox bark orders to the jaguars. They immediately returned to the tigers and crocodiles as fast

as their wings could fly them. They told them of what they saw and they too were amazed to hear

who the mastermind behind this treason was. In that moment, they knew exactly what to do.

At the break of dawn their plan was set into motion. They rushed to the territory of the

jaguars. The crocodiles and parrots snuck their way to the leopards’ cages, while the tigers went

to distract the jaguars and the fox. The crocodiles and parrots set their leopard friends free as the

tigers found the jaguars and cornered them by the crocodile infested water, but there was no fox

insight. The tigers interrogated the jaguars offering them mercy if they told them of the foxe’s

location. The jaguars refused and the tigers had no other choice but to push them off the cliff to

fall to their inevitable demise. The tigers searched all around for the fox, but he had managed a

sly escape and had gone on to cause chaos elsewhere. Afterall, what else can a fox do best.