Thumbelina is a fairy tale of Danish origin, created by Hans Christian Andersen and published in 1835 under its original name, "Tommelise". The name Thumbelina was first used by H.W. Dulcken in 1864. The tale revolves around a tiny girl of the same, and her adventures as a pint-sized human facing up to the challenges surrounding her. Her name is interchangeable, as she is named Thumbelina, but is referred to as Tiny. The motifs of the story are almost typical of fairy tales - talking animals (toads, mole, white mouse, cockchafer), traveler's tales (Tiny on a long journey after being kidnapped from her home), guardians/helpers (the white mouse, the swallow), large and unknown areas (the forest where Tiny travels through) and more, but it also has its own story-bound motifs - Tiny's fascination with winged characters, the heroine as some sort of enchantress to the males of the land (as experienced by attempts to get her married), selflessness (when she tends to worry more about the creatures around her than her own self), the idea of classes (royalty, the wealthy and the poor), and a return to her origin (being born from a flower). These motifs manage to make Thumbelina an interesting tale where it strays from the general procedure of fairytales, but manages to have similarities to other tales like Cinderella and Sleeping Beauty.
Vladimir Propp is well-known for his idea of the 31 functions, where it would aid him in deciphering various folklore and fairy tales. Following these functions, Thumbelina does manage to adhere to a few of them:
8. Villainy/Lack: Thumbelina's kidnapping tends to open up this idea of constant villainy, as the characters who seem keen on trapping her have an identifiable lack - the need for Thumbelina to ...
... middle of paper ...
...ngly fits here because he was the one who pushed her out of his home because she wasn't meant to be with him - he gave her freedom from an admittedly terrible livelihood.
The hero - Or in our case, the heroine would be Thumbelina. While she isn't like many other heroes, she manages to persevere towards the end and stick to her morals.
The false hero - Definitely the field mouse. I assumed that he would be the one that would help her (which he did do), then he somehow got abrasive when Tiny didn't entertain the idea of marrying the mole. Also, he threatened her.
With that, I feel that Thumbelina is really an oddity of a fairy tale. It really does play by a different set of rules, yet it manages to play by certain tropes and establish its own motifs very well. Propp's model may not be entirely suitable for analyzing Thumbelina just because of how off-the-wall it is.
my view is a hero because she took everything that was imposed on her and
...e to overcome her father’s oppressive garnered her ‘good life’ alongside the respect her father and his family business (Hobson).
Who is a hero? In contemporary times, usage of the term has become somewhat of a cliché. Over the years, the term “hero” has become representative of a wide variety of individuals, each possessing differing traits. Some of the answers put forth by my colleagues (during our in-class discussion on heroism) as to whom they consider heroes pointed to celebrities, athletes, teachers and family members. Although the occupations differed, each of their heroes bore qualities that my classmates perceived as extraordinary, whether morally or physically. Nonetheless, Webster’s defines “hero” as “a person who is admired for great or brave acts or fine qualities.” Thus, it is worth considering that individuals become heroes relative to the situation with which they’re faced.
faced society only to protect and be close to the man she still loved. The
What is a hero? Many people think instantly about, police officers, fire fighters, or perhaps a person that saves the day such as “Batman” or “superman”, but in reality a hero are not just people that save the day or other from harm. A hero can also be your parent, or parents that are there for you through your good and bad or even right and wrong days; or your brother or sister that perhaps worry about you and is determine to teach you well, this way you do not commit the same mistake they once did or saw growing up. The novel “In the time of the butterflies” the three sisters are known to be hero’s for standing up and sticking to their beliefs. But a hero is not only those that die for their country or others, it takes a
These characters, however different they lie on the morality scale, all share the sinful trait of greed. They all ask, and take too much, ruining what the good that they had in their lives. Understanding their mistakes offers its useful readers a lesson, not to demand too much of the things we are offered. The characters struggle with their desires, each of them succombing to their passions.
...and the Pelican Child long after Alexander Afanasev wrote The Frog Princess, he innovatively incorporated certain parts of the classic version into his own, and the combination lead to elements of lessons and values evoked throughout the entire fairy tale. Ranging from the life lessons about taking action yourself to the lessons about keeping your happiness independent of the actions of others and basing them within the stories with the plot line and the lack of punishment amongst the villains seamlessly weaves the morals with the fiction. The similarities and differences combined together create a unique fairy tale that incorporates all the main aspects of the classic fairy tale while adding newer features simultaneously. These traits of the fairy tale are what has kept the fairy tale alive for such a long time and will keep them alive for many more years to come.
...ut to leaver her children who desperately pleaded for her. The saddened case was not an isolated but a common reality for many of the freed people who wished to reunite their dislocated families.
The paradisiacal kingdom under the sea is symbolic of childhood. At the onset of the story, the sea kingdom is described: “where the waters are as blue as the petals of the cornflower and as clear as glass, there, where no anchor can reach the bottom,” and where “[one] would have to pile many church towers on top of each other” in order to reach the surface (Andersen 217). The sea describes the deep consciousness of the Little Mermaid as a young child, which is characterized by emotion, beauty, imagination, purity and innocence - representative successively of the water, flowers, the imaginative sim...
which included her ending her marriage and leaving the life she knew behind. In his Novel The
...e, because she’s too busy running around on some-” (Gaitskill 317) and these words show us how utterly “shitty” (Gaitskill 317) he feels, be it warranted or not. He’s faced with the reality that his wife and daughter are ‘leaving’ him behind, doing whatever necessary to detach themselves from his wretched stubbornness and consequently he’s left miserable and alone to mull over the bitter past and even more difficult present. He begins as a likeable character, but gradually becomes a self-righteous and hateful idiot. But, by the end the reader is left feeling extremely sympathetic for him. Though he’s in fact the bad guy, he gets us to view him as the bad guy whose evil is almost justified, or at least that it’s an inevitable symptom of his difficult childhood, poor marriage, extreme anxiety over what others think of him, and disapproval of his daughters lifestyle.
The major theme from The Princess and the Goblin is having faith in the unseen. In the story, Curdie couldn’t physically see Irene’s great-grandmother, but he saw the impact that she had in Irene’s life. He witnessed firsthand the guiding role that she played in the princess’ overall well-being. This analogy is similar to the way that God Himself is not visible to us, but His blessings and His guiding hand
One of the most useful in advancing this story is the typical, powerful character. Whether it be supernatural or cunning this character always comes out on top in the situation and holds the most control over others and their actions. The “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” , “Leda and the Swan”, and “Harrison Bergeron” all utilize an archetypical powerful character to create tension from how each character uses their power.
Who is your hero? Many of us can clearly picture our idea of our personal hero in our head, but is the person you consider to be a hero really a hero by definition? In Heroism: Why Heroes are Important, Scott LaBarge, a Classics and Philosophy Professor at Santa Clara University, awakens your thoughts on the word heroism and how it has changed since its origins in ancient Greece. Throughout his essay, he goes in depth into the term ‘hero’ and compares it to society’s take on heroes today. Although LaBarge uses examples to back up his stance that “Today, it is much harder to detach the concept of heroism from morality (LaBarge. 1),” his essay contains flaws and he contradicts his own words.
...is with an illustration of his personal family dynamic. Meanwhile, Mrs. Davis will be encourage to communicate her truly feelings on how she has felt about being mistreated and feeling alone.