Folktale as a tool for character development

Abstract

Folktale is a vital tool for character and skill development as it carries with it such messages that spur one to positive actions. In this paper, the researchers studied different folktales of the Igbo society and discovered that almost all Igbo folktales gear towards extolling virtue and discouraging vice. This was why folktales were used in the time past by our forefathers as a tool for the education of their children. It was discovered that despite the indispensability of folktales, the advent of modern technologies tends to make folktale unpopular and less important. Consequently, it was recommended that serious attention needs to be given to folktales in order that they do not go into extinction.

Keywords: Folktale, didactic, literature, culture, orature