The Child’s Need for Magic, Application Essay Example

This paper will examine whether fairytales are still relevant to the development and education of today’s children. Many people might well consider fairy tales to be a thing of the past, as though they are stories from another age which have lost their place in culture to computer games and blockbuster movies. From the continuing use of fairy tales in modern storytelling though, such as the TV series ‘Grimm’, it is clear that they still occupy a special place in western cultures. They function as a model for storytelling, offer many interesting character types, teach useful moral lessons and are fun to enjoy simply as entertainment. Whatever form they take in the future, whether as stories in books, the basis for television series or films, or simply as folk tales which parents tell their children, then they will survive and continue to be very important.

The first thing to consider is what the stories have the potential to teach children. Values which are important to society such as self-sacrifice, solidarity with the unfortunate, loyalty and trust are all contained in the best known fairy tales. Stories are rarely simply tales that spring fully formed from their creators’ minds. They usually develop over time, as a response to struggles faced in life by human beings. The characters that are used may be stereotypes or metaphors, like the big bad wolf faced by Little Red Riding Hood, but they clearly represent something. Children can learn about the kind of things which people may try to do to them over their lives, that not everyone can be trusted, and that we must make our way through life carefully. As children’s author Joan Aiken, author of children’s novels such as ‘The Wolves of Willoughby Chase’, has stated: “Stories ought not to be just little bits of fantasy that are used to while away an idle hour; from the beginning of the human race stories have been used – by priests, by bards, by medicine men – as magic instruments of healing, of teaching, as a means of helping people come to terms with the fact that they continually have to face insoluble problems and unbearable realities.” (qtd. in Fairy Tales, Crystal Campbell). This quote gets to the heart of the continuing relevance of fairytales: the emotional situations and problems which face humanity may change in situation, but they remain basically the same. Fairy tales are therefore important as they teach eternal lessons in the face of these repeated situations.

Secondly, fairy tales also teach children about storytelling from a young age, and can hopefully help stimulate an interest in art and reading which can last them throughout their lives. The characters which are contained in fairy tales work well, they tend to have been rounded out through years of telling. Different interpretations of them show that they are flexible and can be bent to the needs of the storyteller’s environment and lifestyle. One thing to bear in mind when reading or telling stories to children though is that times do change and so do sensitivities to matters such as violence and torture. The Grimm tale of The Story of a Youth Who Went Forth to Learn What Fear Was, for example, has some dreadful images of people playing nine-pins with skulls and beating old men with iron bars until they cry for mercy. But the nature of fairy tales is that the specifics of the story are not necessarily that important; it is the theme and the moral that continue to speak to audiences. While it is advisable for parents to be careful about which versions of fairy tales to which their children are exposed, the actual content of the stories remains eternal and well-constructed.

One form of fairy tales which has played an influence on this writer’s life, as well as the lives of many other people born in the years after World War Two, is Disney’s adaptations of them. Indeed, for many people, these cartoon versions of the tales are their first exposure to the stories. Even though these versions are so Americanised, and sanitised, they still show the same characteristics and teach the same lessons as the older versions from the past. Many would argue that the process of sanitising and ‘Americanising’ the tales has reduced their cultural value and is disrespectful to the folk traditions which spawned the stories. Jack Zipes, for example, argues that the Disney versions are little more than animators showing off (Fairytale as Myth: Myth as Fairytale, page. 93), and imposing their own moral outlook on the tales. But it could also be argued that these films can be the gateway to exploring deeper ideas in more complex films and books. Anything which opens children’s minds up to the possibilities of storytelling and art should be encouraged. As children’s author Philip Pulman, writer of the Dark Materials series, stated: “I think it’s very, very important that your children should know these stories. Not all of them obviously, but the great ones, the famous ones. They should also know stories from the Bible and from Greek mythology. I think it’s important almost more than anything else – that’s what they need most of all.” (Daily Telegraph, 03/18/2013)

It can therefore be seen that fairytales continue to occupy an important place in modern education, in its broadest sense. As well as teaching children useful moral lessons and helping to equip them with the mental tools necessary for life, they also introduce them to ideas about art and storytelling. Whether you prefer the sanitised Disney versions or the bloodier originals is up to you and how you want your children to learn.

References

Crystal R. Campbell, Fairy Tales, retrieved from http://faculty.weber.edu/chansen/humanweb/projects/CrystalCampbell/title.htm, 03/18/2013

Grimm’s Fairytales, The Story of a Youth Who Went Forth to Learn What Fear Was, retrieved from http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~spok/grimmtmp/003.txt, 03/18/2013

Hannah Furness, Philip Pullman: teach all children fairy tales and Bible verses, retrieved from http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/books/9936241/Philip-Pullman-teach-all-children-fairy-tales-and-Bibleverses.html 03/18/2013

Jack D. Zipes, Fairytale as Myth: Myth as Fairytale, University of Kentucky Press, October 1994