FAIRY TALES MUST NOT FRIGHTEN

Otago Daily Times, Issue 23529, 18 June 1938, Page 31

FAIRY TALES MUST NOT FRIGHTEN

Thousands of children will go and see Walt Disney’s “ Snow White ” on the screen, and no harm will be done to their mihds, for, in comparison to the roles of the dwarfs and the animals, those of Snow Wnite and the cruel Queen remain rather insignificant. The child’s memory will retain a much more vivid picture of the lovely pigeons and finches, the clever deer and the funny rabbits and the ugly dwarfs, who behave, exactly like schoolboys, than of the Queen and Snow White. There may be one. or two momcnis of anxiety for sensitive children r r ti> here, so I would like to cut out, for instance, the butcher’s knife and the ugly, withered hand of the Queen, but as there i> no emphasis put on horror, these elements of fear will be obliterated by the general charm of the atmosphere. An interest in animals, birds, insects, and even in familiar furniture: doors, beds, chairs, the tap in the kitchen, and the trough in the back yard—that’s what the make-believe v-orld of fairy tales ought to give :o our uuidren.

The wood-carved cradles ot our grandparents have oisappeared from the nursery together with the clumsy old furniture from other rooms of the house. A modern nursery looks light and bright, and everything is small, handy, and well adapted. But when you open a cupboard you are sure to find “ Grimm’s Fairy Tales ” in a corner. Why have they not disappeared, together with all the other antiquated stuff? If parents only knew what mischief these fairy tales have already done, what havoc they worked in past generations, and their effect on the minds of our own children, they would put them well out of the child's reach.

What harm can fairy tales like

“ Snow White,” “ Cinderella,” “ Little Red Riding Hood," and “ Sleeping Beauty ” do a normal child? “ Snow White ” and “ Cinderella ” give the child wrong ideas about step-mothers, who are described as jealous, unfair, wicked, and hideous The more these tales are repeated at home, at the kindergarten and at school, the firmer these conceptions stick in the child’s mind And should he be so unfortunate to lose his mother and get a stepmother, the fear and prejudice inculcated years ago will prevent good relationships. No stepmother however worthy her intentions, can struggle against such deeply-rooted prejudice. We are generally very careful not to tell children about death. “Granny has gone away for good, and will never come back ” we say: or ’ She has gone to heaven where she will no longer feel her bad gout." We enshroud the fa> i that death is the common fate of al> living beings: but we do not hesitate to tell our children how Sleeping Beauty died, how Little Red Riding Hood was eaten by the Wolf, and huw. after three attempts. Snow Whitt was murdered at last by her stepmother. We take the newspapers away from

school children because we do not wish them to read about crimes, and we ignore the fact that they have already a ,'onsiderable knowledge of crime from their fairy tales, which have perhaps awakened and stimulated an interest in wrong-doing. Little Red Riding Hood is devoured by the Wolf for dwadling a bit in the wood and leaving the path to pick flowers for her grandmother. What a cruel punishment for such a little mistake! A wolf, what is it like? Then mummy takes the children to the zoo and shows them the wolf. It looks exactly like Mr Cooper’s dog, perhaps a little bigger. Maybe this dog is a wolf, too; perhaps all dogs are wolves. In this way many a oerson’s fear of dogs has its origin,' How can a child grow to be secure and independent when he hears about so much injustice, cruel deeds, and incalculable consequences following on trivial actions? Because her parents had forgotten to invite a certain fairy. Sleeping Beautj was doomed to die when she was fifteen years old. Bluebeard's wives, full of curiosity, disobeyed their husband by opening the forbidden door, and had to die for their disobedience. For picking some roses in the Beast’s garden the father of Beauty had to give his beloved daughter to the Beast. Almost incredible, so unfair and unjust! The children may be told over and over again that these are only fairy tales, but have they the discernment to realise the distinction. How often do they ask, “Is that really true? Can such things happen? ” and we have to confess that it is only a fairy tale. Why do we tell children of the twentieth centur” such tales? About a hundred years ago, when Jacob and William Grimm started to collect these fairv tales, their aim was to save the old pagan myths from oblivion, and the highly valuable work work they did was intended for adults, not for children. They had to go to the village spinning rooms or the peasants’ cottages, where grandmothers and great-grandmothers told these tales. The same fairy stories, with little variation are found all over the world, and go back to the time when men worshipped natural phenomena, the alteration of night and day, the succession of the seasons, thunder and lightning wind and rain. The night was full of terrors and danger for our ancestors, and many are the celebrations of dawn and the rising sun which can be traced in fairy tales. Cinderella dirty and dusty crouching in the ashes is the dawn covered by clouds, but darkness vanishes when, dressed in silver and gold, she goes to the king's feast. The Prince, who follows her after the ball, and finally marries her, is the Sun himself. Another version of this legend is the “ Little Red Riding Hood ” tale. This comes from hotter lands, where the sun is not lovely and princely, but cruel and destructive. He is the wolf that devours the Dawn but Night kills the wolf and Little Red Riding Hood, the dawn of a new day comes out of the beast’s body unhurt, fresh, and rosy. I once explained the story to a Little Red Riding Hood in this way to a mite of eight. She looked at me for a long while, then all at once she clapped her hands, saying, “ Oh, that is far nicer than it was before. Now I like it ever so much more.” If your children already know these stories, and are intelligent enough to understand the true interpretation, you will only add to the charm of the story by giving ijt, and will certainly not destroy their pleasure. We find personifications or attributes of Dusk and Dawn, Night and Winter, Summer and Sun, in nearly all fairy tales. Think of the number of shoes mentioned —the glass slipper of Cinderella, Tom Thumb’s seven league boots, and those belonging to Puss-in-Boots. They all symbolise the rapidity with which light travels, just as do the winged sandals of the Greek god Hermes. And the fairies themselves, what are they but man’s fate? Each of us has a fairy godmother who puts the gifts intended for us into our cradle, and according to what we are given must we try to form our life pattern. We even have the chance of turning a bad gift into a good one. for we have learnt to believe more in our own responsibility and less in fate.

Belief in an inevitable fate creates fear. Tales of cruelty and injustice created fear. But is not the world so full of fear and anxiety that we should try to protect our children from catching this disease? If you wish to bring up a young generation full of courage and able to face a new and even a dangerous situation with well-balanced minds, and the conviction of righteousness and responsibility. banish “Grimm’s Fairy Tales” from the nursery. English literature is richer than any other in charming stories for children. Why should we cling to tales which, however great their literary value, are dangerous and do infinite harm to our children? —From an article by Marie Heynemann. in New Health.