According to Dorothy Yamamoto , the significant themes in the tale are " solidity and vacancy , substance and illusion " . The cheese that apparently reside in the well is only an illusion , not a solid object , and similarly the fox create a surface reconciliation between the wolf and the husbandman , but which betray his real intentions . Through their frequent misuse , words that should convey real value are emptied of meaning . As an example , Yamamoto highlight the fox 's taill on which the wolf and husbandman make their pledge — which body part she say is used by the fox in other tales to blind his foes , and is thereby a highly inappropriate object to use .