The Theme Of Reality In Michael Cunningham's 'Little Man'

In the modern twist of the well-known fairy tale, Rumplestiltskin, Michael Cunningham’s “Little Man”, retells the adventure of this two-hundred-year old gnome, through the eyes of Rumplestiltskin himself, who fell in love with a miller’s beautiful daughter which he helped do the impossible; spin straw into gold. Throughout the course of the story, a series of events occur which leads up to the destruction of Rumplestiltskin’s heart. The story’s theme is that reality is a matter of perspective.
The story begins by describing the effects of desiring something which one cannot obtain – a child. The author offers a sympathetic view of Rumplestiltskin’s character by portraying him as a solitary individual, desperate for affection as opposed to

Demonstrating that Rumplestiltskin had purely accepted the gifts because “she drapes the necklace over [his] head” and “she slips [the ring] onto [his] pinkie” (68). The miller’s daughter offered them as a gift of appreciation in order to thank him for his work, contrary to the depiction in the original story where Rumplestiltskin demands something in return. From the reader’s point of view, it is intended to display that if Rumplestiltskin had refused her gifts it would have been considered impolite, after all she put them in his reach. This new twist brings an alternate aspect to who was once thought-out to be merely an imp of a man, maybe Rumplestiltskin was never a mischievous person to begin with in which case the reader experiences a change of heart, feeling compassion for

As a result of his conscious going against his actions, he compromises by granting her the chance to guess his name which would allow her to keep the child. Regardless of his mixed feelings towards raising a child, he stuck with his word because he’s already made it clear of what he wanted therefore “[he] might as well forge on” (Cunningham, 70) and he was desperate for “another token, a talisman, a further piece of evidence” (70) which would slowly seal the space between himself and his true