Bettelheim Phony

1331 Words3 Pages

Mythology

There are few things that are more complicated than a human being. The way our brain is able to tell us what to do in fractions of a second, how all our muscles and tendons are able to work in unison, and how we act in certain situations. But if we were to factor out what set us aside from everything else, we would find ourselves to be an empty vessel. We would be a race with no diversity and no conscience. We would not be able to make choices, but instead do what instinct tells us to do. However, we as humans have experienced this before. It was when we were babies. As babies we are completely blank and completely oblivious to right and wrong. We have no ability to do anything except sleep, breathe, and use the bathroom which is part of our autonomic nervous system. The benefit to this stage, however, is we are gaining information at an incredible rate without realizing it. By this I mean that our surroundings make us who we are. Whether it be our parents, friends, entertainment, and even fairytales.

As children we are intrigued by all that is not reality which is why we are so attracted to the stories we are told as children. In Bruno Bettelheim’s “Uses of Enchantment” Bettelheim argues that fairytales are very important in a child’s life and could be potentially devastating if

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the child is denied the fairytales. Bettelheim uses certain fairytales as examples of how they help a child’s development, some examples are Cinderella, Snow White and Hansel and Gretel. In the said children stories, Bettelheim argues why children need fairytales in order to grow up as functioning human beings in society. He states that children have a missing piece in their personality or character and they need the made up...

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...ng cycle. The only thing Bettelheim should be none for is his infamous reputation to lie and plagiarize his concepts (http://journalism.nyu.edu/portfolio/books/book411.html 13).

Work Cited

1. http://www.JamesPMercurio.com/review_enchantment.html

2. http://www.librarything.com/work/432

3. “The Norse Myths”. Holland Crossley ,Kevin. The Creation

4. http://www.bookrags.com/studyguide-the-uses-of-enchantment

5. http://www.thenextlayer.org/node/206

6. Louis Macneice, poet

7. Maria Tartar, psychologist

8. http://www.Freudlife.org

9. http://www.webmd.com/parenting/guide/mental-health-autism

10. “The Uses of Enchantment”

11. http://webspace.ship.edu/cgboer/freud.html

12. http://todlertime.com/interests/bettelheim.htm

13. http://Journalism.NYU.edu/portfolia/books/book411/html

14. http://pep.net/document/php?Id=psar.087.0385a

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