Pierce Arnold - The Troll Problem 4/26/2026

Something that we talked about in class that has since stuck with me is Dr. Redick’s story of the troll under the bridge and his daughter. This is because as a general rule I would agree with Dr. Redick’s wife in that one should not ever lie to one’s children. At the same time however, I see Dr. Redick’s perspective that certain metaphorical truths are not meant to be interpreted literally but rather understood as a representation of something deeper. The story about the bridge is excellent then because I feel that it toes the line between these two perspectives expertly. This is because my desire to be okay with non-literal truths is fairly balanced with my feeling that Dr. Redick’s daughter likely ended up believing something untrue, that there was a flesh and blood troll under the bridge. This begs the question then, where do we draw the line between deceit and metaphor? This question is especially relevant in religion because there is much of both to be found among the world’s religions. If the Greeks were using metaphor, and modern cults are using deceit, how do we determine the difference between them? I’m not totally sure what the proper answer to this question is, but I will definitely continue thinking about it as time goes on.

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