Over the past few years I’ve become increasingly more interested in old fairy tales and stories. Partly because it is so much a part of the world’s education system (we may not always like what Hollywood teaches but it doesn’t mean we haven’t added something new to our knowledge base) but mostly because it seems to be an integral part of our humanity.
It’s this second reason that interests me most as it allows us to glimpse who we are (at our best and worst). Stories and fairy tales tell us what we idealize and what we hate. It snickers at our folly in a way that our pride will not allow us to do directly and yet celebrates our weaknesses. In fact, in a way I believe the stories and fairy tales tell us more about how a group of people thought than history books do. I learned more about the nature of war from Tolkien and why people will under go such a state of pain and terror than I ever did reading the historical accounts of what happened during World War II.
Then we have that the stories that last so often (to me at least) tell us of the nature of humanity not just about the nature of our response to current events. I truly believe they turn a mirror on not just what we do but who we are. For example…
Hansel and Gretel
Take the story of Hansel and Gretel, not because it’s the best example but simply it’s the first one that came to mind and for my premise to stand I can’t rely simply on the easy examples. Why has Hansel and Gretel stood the test of time and what does it tell us about ourselves.
(Insert pause to actually think about this as I’m writing as I think and have a horrible laziness regarding looking back over anything I write.)
My quick musing on Hansel and Gretel:
- As we see in so many fairy tales, humans want adventure. They may not what to live it but they regard it as spice to their lives. I wonder if we live less adventurous lives in modern times because we feel there is less to discover (could we really be that foolish?) or becuase Hollywood, etc. is providing out need for adventure. Hansel and Gretel go off into the woods…Why? What will they find? Will it be good or bad? Will there be giants to slay or elves to discover? Will there be a hidden world or beauty or an evil regime? What will there adventure be?
What is your adventure?
- We also encounter the old witch living out in the woods on her own. Does this speak to humanities desire to be part of something else and a lack of understanding around those things that don’t fit in or that remain outside of traditional boundaries.
Have we excluded any people group simple because they live outside our “village”?
- Isn’t there the slightest bit of outrage that they started eating and destroying something that wasn’t theirs? Can’t the old woman’s outrage be understood? Of course and we do feel that outrage but it is negated by the expectation that this person living outside of normal circumstances is a witch (evil) and that they are children and innocence is seen as an excuse. Philosophically,while innocence/ignorance might justify a holding back of justice or punishment for the sake of mental integrity it doesn’t make an action right. Did the original hearers grapple with this philosophical question? Did it provoke them to consider parenting issues?
- Finally, the witch is killed by the children. Isn’t this the story we love to hear in all adventures, that the good, even the weak can conquer evil?
At 600 words that’s enough for now and probably more than anyone wants to read but you get the point. Of course it would be an interesting book to lay out an analysis in more detail but I think that would negate our education. I will probably add more thoughts to this blog on different fairy tales at times but I would still encourage reading such stories against our world image. Thoughtful and contemplative reading (as opposed to reading for knowledge or entertainment) is a somewhat lost art.