Philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche (1844-1900) believed it was ‘natural for a “master race” of conquerors to have a mythology based on the “master morality” – in which the strong and powerful deserve to be victorious. Inversely, it was also natural for a “slave race” to have a mythology based on the “slave morality” – in which the meek shall inherit the earth.” (Indick, 2004, p.197). The all powerful, infallible ‘Superman’ hero, named ubermensch, is still present in modern stories, in super hero films for example. However, children are hardly ever in charge, and have to answer to their parents, teachers and other authority figures within society, so it seems unlikely they will relate to the ‘master morality’ of the ubermensch, as they often lack power and authority within their own society. Therefore, the underdog hero, or ‘untermensch’ is of a greater appeal to children, especially when these characters are victorious against powerful adult characters as the story progresses. The powerlessness of children compared to the seemingly unjust whims of adults is captured perfectly at the end of the first book, The Name of This Book is Secret. After Cass and Max-Earnest have risked their lives to save fellow student Benjamin Blake, they face their school principal. Mrs. Johnson couldn’t prove it, but she was certain that Cass and Max-Earnest were responsible for Benjamin Blake’s disappearance, rather than for his rescue. I wont go into detail about their hours of detention and hard labour because the subject is too infuriating to my sense of justice. (Bosch, 2008, p.350). Indeed, this injustice does infuriate the reader, but it also makes us care for these characters all the more. The writer of the Secret Series seems to be very aware o... ... middle of paper ... ... were broken into fifteen minute segments so Max-Earnest would never miss a meal with either parent, and sleeping hours, which were spent at alternate half-houses nightly. (Bosch, 2009, p.183). Later on he is ignored completely by his parents when they rediscover love for each other, leaving Max-Earnest to care for his new baby brother. ‘Every child knows what it’s like to be Cinderella because all children feel unappreciated at times and want to be special.’ (Smith, 2007. P.6). While it is unlikely that most parents would abuse their children in the same way as in our fairy stories, or lock them in the cupboard under the stairs like Harry Potter, every child knows what it is like to be ignored, or (in their eyes) unfairly punished for something. ‘Children often feel helpless because they are subject to what they consider the whims of adults.’ (Cleaver, 2004, p.56).
The dictionary definition of a child is a young human being, an immature person and offspring (Oxford, 1976). This idea is reflected in Mead’s statement ‘that children to adults are representative of something weak and helpless in need of protection, supervision, training, models, skills, beliefs and ‘character’’ (Montgomery et al, 2003, p vii). The emphasis is on the concept of the child by adults rather than the size or mentality raising the notion that a child, and therefore childhood, is not just a biological concept but also an ideological one (Falconer, 2009). This ideology makes an oxymoron of Children’s Literature according to Rose (Hunt, 2009a) as adults write, publish and purchase books with each set of adults having their own ideas about childh...
Any child growing up will be enamored by the lustrous glorified ending of a fairytale; most notably Walt Disney’s. As this child progresses into maturity a realization of how the world actually revolves occurs demeaning their once happy thought. Charles Perrault wrote his version of Cinderella to appeal towards the naïve, yet inquire those with sophisticated intellect. A mask is created by the mysticism of magic and buoyant endings. Beneath that masquerade lies wretchedness within family and how at times freedom is only possible with the help of something non-existent.
Every day the safety and well-being of many children are threatened by neglect. Each child deserves the comfort of having parents whom provide for their children. Throughout the memoir, The Glass Castle, Jeannette Walls explains the childhood from being born into the hands of parent who neglect their children. Many may argue that children need to grow with their parents; however, the removal of children is necessary if the parents disregard the kid’s needs and cannot provide a stable life for their children.
Throughout history and in all cultures adults exercise power over children, in all aspects of their lives from parental power, teacher/school regulation through to the passing of laws at national level that affect the lives of all children within that society. S. A. Taylor (2000) cited in Doing Research with Children and Young People Edited by Fraser et al, pointed out that it is adults and not children themselves who write about, debate and decide what rights children should have.. This can be seen as an indication of the power adults exercise over children which confines them to subordinate roles within society. Power means different things to different people, however, it is generally t...
In the essay: “ ‘Cinderella’: A Story of Sibling Rivalry and Oedipal Conflicts”’, Bruno Bettelheim discusses how Cinderella is a story about the difficulties of sibling rivalry and the degraded heroine ending up on top of the siblings that oppressed her. Bettelheim argues that sibling rivalry is created when a child feels that they cannot win their parents love and esteem in comparison to his brothers or sisters. In addition he argues that every child feels that they deserve to be degraded at some point in their life. The concept of Oedipal guilt, his last point, has some intriguing details included in it, concepts of which could be disputed. However, the main focus of this essay is on how children justify the idea that they should be degraded, and because of the hardships they have faced, risen up and exalted like Cinderella was. He states that Cinderella relates very closely to the youth because they feel like they can relate to her situation more than the majority of people could.
In modern culture, children are seen as both innocent and immature. People feel they are innocent in that they have not experienced much of life and are not yet exposed to the reality of life. This characteristic of innocence that is placed upon children is what leads to the immaturity of children. Because people believe the innocence of children not being exposed to the world makes them incapable of handling mature situations and issues, children are rarely granted any form of responsibility. Children are shielded by their parents or other caretakers that take the responsibility of caring for the child, making decisions for the child, and doing much of the work that they feel a child can not do themselves. True and full
My thesis statement is that children’s innocence enables them to cope in difficult situations. Children generally have a tendency to lighten the mood in sad situations because of their innocent nature. They turn even the saddest situations to mild, innocent situations. This is evident when Marjane says “these stories had given me new ideas for games”, (Satrapi, 55). By saying this she refers to her uncle’s stories of how he and other prisoners were tortured in prison. Stories of torture have never been easy to hear even for adults but Marjane so innocentl...
It is often said that there are no more heroes in today\\'s world or even that this is an age of the anti-hero. Yet anyone who is blessed with the opportunity to observe children for any length of time will see that regard for those who exemplify certain ideals (heroes) is a spontaneous element in basic human psychology. The reported lack of heroes and the cult of the anti-hero are the fruit of a disillusioned Aadult@ mentality which has been lied to on this as well as other subjects and hence robbed of the natural inclination of a normal human being (a child) who is as yet untainted by the cynicism and Asophistication@ of a deeply troubled society. The more often the lie is repeated the more firmly it is held to be true. But, heroes do still exist -- it is rather that a society which values valuelessness no longer has eyes to see them and has lost the ability to produce them. For those who have eyes to see, one such hero is the author of the book under review here.
There isn’t a fairy tale that renders so well as Cinderella, and the theme of the inner experiences of the young child in the throes of step-sibling rivalry. Cinderella is degraded and belittled by her stepsisters; her interests are sacrificed due to the selfishness of her stepmother and sisters. She is expected to do all of the housework (cooking, cleaning, washing clothes etc.). Although she performs it well, she receives no credit for it. In fact, she is only demanded of to do more work. Theoretically, this is how children can feel when devastated by the heartache of sibling rivalry. The term “sibling rivalry” refers to the fighting, jealousy, and competition between brothers and sisters. This can be very difficult with the dynamics of the rivalry being between step siblings. Children can, at times, suffer drastically from sibling rivalry due to the fact that parents seldom sacrifice of one child to the other, or they don’t condone the other children’s persecuting one of them. In short, Cinderella teaches children about sibling rivalry in its extremist form; the jealousy and enmity of the stepsisters, and Cinderella’s sufferings because of it. The many psychological issues touched upon in the story are so covertly alluded to that the child does not become consciously aware of
When Cinderella is show to be a good person, acting only out of the purity of their heart, and with a cheerful disposition, it gives a certain schema for what the children that are watching this should act like. But there lies the
of millions of people did not happen I know that it did, and I know
...airy tales in literature play a significant part in a child’s life, they also impact misconceptions about gender stereotypes. Fairy tales play a role in this because they open a new world for children to explore while exposing them to a plethora of commonly known themes; gender roles being one of them. If a child sees their favorite princess letting a man decide her destiny, they acquire those same characteristics and apply it to their everyday life. These children believe that fairy tales are reality while they are the furthest ideas from reality. Fairy tales are meant to relieve the stress of reality so they should “not be forgotten, but rather modified and modernized” (Gender Roles Indoctrinated through Fairy Tales in Western Civilization) to fit society’s standards today. This will help children to grow up in believing that gender stereotypes can be broken.
The tale starts with the protagonist Cinderella living with her step-mother and step-sisters, it becomes very clear that do not treat her with any respect. Cinderella’s role
I am writing this paper because I was assigned to write it as a class project. Along the way I realized the importance of sharing the real meanings of all these stories. Stories are important because in the society we live in things are constantly changing. Fairytales change but the base of the story always remain the same no matter how many times it has been retold. It’s important to reveal the true meanings of these stories, even with its dark characteristics, because the world is dark .Children need to know that there are people that have told stories relatable to what they are going through. Fairytales help the development of children; it helps their maturity as they confront someone else’s tough situations, instilling hope of a more positive ou...
The Cinderella story has been part of many cultures even though it may not have been called cinderella but, the meaning of these stories are all very similar. “Cinderella, as we know it, is experienced as a story about the agonies and hopes … and about the degraded heroine winning out over her siblings who abused her” (Bettelheim, 2). We see the story as a women overcoming small problems and getting help from an outside source to help fulfill her dreams. As a child watches or reads this folktale they will get the feeling that this outside source, some sort of magic or a real person, will sweep them up and help guide them through their life. This false conception on children can be very dangerous because the children will get a sense of