In wake of the mass shooting in Orlando Florida, the United States is faced with a nationwide dilemma. Violence has taken over this country in ways that would seem unfathomable to citizens in Canada or almost anywhere in the United Kingdom. Why is there so much killing within this country? It is often said that the youth is the future, so it’s only right to say that the youth of the past is causing this violence in the present. A child’s upbringing definitely has some effect on who they become when they are older. Fairy tales are a part of most children’s lives and as they become adults those tales are still somewhere in their mind. After reading the Brothers Grimm’s Tales versions of “Snow White” and “Bluebeard”, it is evident that these tales constantly use the theme of death to show readers how violence can solve one’s problems. Snow White’s …show more content…
She never sits down to think about how wrong her actions are or that it isn’t Snow White’s fault that she is no longer the fairest lady in the land. The queen attempts to have Snow White killed a total of four times and when she finally accomplishes her goal the author describes the queen’s reaction as, “Her envious heart was finally at peace, as much as an envious heart can be,” (88). Audiences are reading that the death of another person is making someone feel at peace. If a child is in a troubled place and has an issue they might recall these words and attempt to hurt someone in order to feel at peace. Or even worse, an adult might recall these words and harm several people to obtain what they believe will be peace. These are all hypothetical situations, but both are very possible because you never know how someone is going to interpret the words they read or hear. Some folks read a religious text and become devoted to the religion, meanwhile, others may read the exact same text and have zero interest in that
Geoffrey Canada, the author of Fist, Stick, Knife, Gun; A Personal History of Violence, grew up and worked his entire life near or in the underclass society. Through his keen observation on behavior of children in these regions, he has noticed how with the introduction to guns, in particular to children created even more dangerous neighborhoods. Throughout his lifetime in New York, he tells us that violence has changed to be less organized and the social stability of the children is tested with (fire) power that they are too young to fully understand, it was an evolutionary decent. His observations on the violence that children can commit to each other parallels well with fictional story Lord of the Flies written by Nobel prize winning writer, William Golding. Golding, like Canada, looks what kind of environment is needed for violence to prevail in children. Although Golding’s 1954 book Lord of the Flies is fiction, it describes our current impoverished America’s epidemic on violence very well.
Children can identify themselves with fairy-tale characters; they imagine themselves as heroes, who are capable of killing dragons, or simpletons, who demonstrate the superiority over clever people. Fantasies based on the fairy tales are extremely important part of the children’s lives, and this is not only because they describe threatening situations that resemble main fears of a young child such as the fear of getting lost, fear of wrong decisions, fear of monsters or evil animals. Happy endings, which are always present in fairy tales, give children the confidence that despite all their fears they will be able to win in the end. This knowledge helps them to prepare for the difficulties of life, regardless whether they are real or imagined (Doughty, 2006).
Inevitably, there comes a point in everybody’s life at which they have an experience that completely alters their view of the world. This moment is when one loses his or her innocence, or comes of age, and he or she realizes that they do not live in a utopian Golden Age. Parents are charged with the monumental duty of protecting their children’s innocence, but everybody inescapably grows up. This experience can be anything from an embarrassing situation at school to coming within seconds of death. In the short story “Ambush” by Tim O’Brien, the author tells the true story of his daughter confronting him and asked him if he had ever killed anyone. In an effort to be a good parent and protect the nine-year-old’s innocence, the author does not share with her the story he goes on to tell to the reader. He explains how many years ago, he was serving in the army and was taking a shift guarding his troop’s campsite when all of a sudden, a young man from the opposing army came walking up the trail. Without a second thought, O’Brien killed the boy with a grenade, and he lost his innocence after realizing he had killed a defenseless man without hesitation. Tim O’Brien develops Ambush as a coming of age story through the use of literary devices.
The adult world is a cold and terrifying place. There are robberies, shootings, murders, suicides, and much more. If you were to be a small child, perhaps age 5, and you were to look in at this world, you would never know how bad it actually was, just from a single glance. Children have a small slice of ignorant bliss, which helps to keep them away from the harsh of reality. It isn’t until later, when they encounter something that opens their eyes and shows them, that they truly start to understand the world we live it. Harper Lee’s To Kill A Mockingbird shows the many differences between the simplicity of being a kid and the tough decisions and problems that adults must face every day.
During the 19th century, Grimm’s fairytales were strongly disapproved of due to harsh, gruesome details and plots. One American educator from 1885 stated, “The folktales mirror all too loyally the entire medieval worldview and culture with all its stark prejudice, its crudeness and barbarities.” As childre...
People cannot choose the time to live and die. Ginzburg had to live through the horrors of war: destroyed houses, air raids, arrests, and death. She shows how the war not only deprives people of their belongings, but also distorts the primary meaning of things and concepts. The world “police” no longer bears the meaning of protection and help but rather that of fear and suspicion. All pretty things that decorate a house, as well as the house itself, come to be viewed simply as raw material that will eventually turn to dust. Children of the war had seen too much terror and suffering in real life; therefore, Ginzburg asserts that this makes it impossible to raise children telling them fairy tales as the previous generations did. The only advantage the Ginzburg’s generation got from the war is the ability to see and speak the truth. As the generation of men they have no illusion they will find some peace or certainty in life, but they have found “strength” and “toughness” to “face whatever reality may confront” them and they are “glad of their destiny”.
Fairy tales portray wonderful, elaborate, and colorful worlds as well as chilling, frightening, dark worlds in which ugly beasts are transformed into princes and evil persons are turned to stones and good persons back to flesh (Guroian). Fairytales have long been a part of our world and have taken several forms ranging from simple bedtime stories to intricate plays, musicals, and movies. However, these seemingly simple stories are about much more than pixie dust and poisoned apples. One could compare fairytales to the new Chef Boyardee; Chef Boyardee hides vegetables in its ravioli while fairytales hide society’s morals and many life lessons in these outwardly simple children stories. Because of this fairytales have long been instruments used to instruct children on the morals of their culture. They use stories to teach children that the rude and cruel do not succeed in life in the long run. They teach children that they should strive to be kind, caring, and giving like the longsuffering protagonists of the fairytale stories. Also, they teach that good does ultimately defeat evil. Fairy tales are not just simple bedtime stories; they have long been introducing cultural moral values into young children.
Over the years, Snow White’s story has been told in numerous different versions then its original version in 1812 by the Grimm Brothers. The main basis of the story has remained the same. Only a few minor tweaks to the story have changed. The three versions of the story that are going to be analyzed are the original story “Little Snow White” by the Brothers Grimm, “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs” by Disney, and “Mirror, Mirror” by Disney also. They each were created in very different times and the original story has changed over the years to appeal to the audience of that time. No matter how many versions there are Snow White is considered, one of the most cherished fairy tales of all time. They each use different methods to get their story across by using different colors, word usage, and scenes.
Fairy tales are one of the longest lasting forms of literature. Though now they bring to mind classic movies engendered by Disney, many of these stories were first passed on in an oral manner, meant to convey a message, moral, or lesson. Alison Lurie’s “What Fairy Tales Tell Us” covers a broad range of classic tales, discussing how under the guise of an entertaining story comes life lessons we would all do well to follow. To begin this paper, some of the tales Lurie examines in her article will be looked at and critically examined beyond what she discusses. This will then move the text towards its remaining sections, which will take Lurie’s ideas and have them applied to folk and fairy tales that have not yet been contemplated; for the purpose
Tatar, M. (1987). Sex and Violence: The Hard Core of Fairy Tales. The hard facts of the Grimms' fairy tales (p. 3). Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press.
Though the evils of the world may discourage us from reaching our full potential, fairytales such as Little Snow-White by Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm teach us that good will always triumph over evil. As many tales of its kind, Little Snow-White uses a number of literary devices to attract a younger audience and communicate to them a lesson or moral that will remain with them throughout their lives. Since children have such an abstract stream of thought, it is vital to use language and devices that will appeal to them as to keep them interested in the story.
The fairytale “Little Red Riding Hood” has so many versions that has been told from books and movies. There are many different versions of the fairytale with different messages for everyone. “Little Red Riding Hood” is told all around the world, but one message that is always in the fairytale is danger is around. When telling a child about “Little Red Riding Hood” they understand one message that they should not talk to strangers, but children do not understand other messages that are analyzed like killing, poverty, abuse, etc. As adults, we grasp the concept in the messages, I have categorized concepts into groups: representation sexuality, evolution, and victim. My Literature review focus on these three categorize and the meaning
Snow White by the Brothers Grimm explores the theme of insecurity which can be defined as one’s subjective evaluation of his or her own self. The fairytale is a story about a Queen who seeks to be the prettiest by constantly asking her mirror “Mirror, Mirror, on the wall, who’s the fairest of them all?.” Initially it was always her; however, as the story progresses and as her stepdaughter Snow White matures, the mirror states that Snow White is the fairest. This causes the step-mother to try to kill Snow White through a huntsman, using a comb, a corset, and finally an apple. This mirror phrase seems to raise more and more anger the more it is asked. One could assume that the mirror is the judging factor in the phrase, but after a closer look on a psychological level, the
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...
Fairy tales have always been told to us as children; whether to comfort or entertain us, they always seem to be a part of most everyone’s childhood. When Nadine Gordimer was asked to write a children’s story, she replied with a short story titled “Once Upon A Time”. Although the title is characteristic of a fairy tale, she leads the tale to an ending that is anything other than “…happily ever after.” Gordimer distorts the fairy tale by dealing with certain issues rather than giving the reader the usual fairy tale characteristics. Three of the more significant issues Gordimer likes to deal with in her story are racial discrimination and prejudice, society’s insecurities, and the persuasive way fairy tales have with children.