This essays deals with the idea of violence in nursery rhymes and fairy tales that have been (re)told to children over the past several centuries. The idea is that the violence is disguised by the veil of revenge and righteousness, making it appear less conspicuous, but it is nevertheless present, and as such, a possible threat to the child’s psyche. Some of the stories mentioned in the following essay show that they condone violence, for whatever reason, depending on the circumstances under which this particular violence occurs.
Keywords: violence, fairy tales, fables, nursery rhymes
In today’s society, the average human is surrounded by acts of oppression. They are everywhere around us, on television, in video games, in our neighborhoods, in our schools. This persistence of violence is a major sociological issue, which unfortunately, stems from the very earliest experiences a human being undergoes. In an effort to soothe the child and create a pleasant atmosphere before bedtime, parents sing lullabies and nursery rhymes to their children, and tell stories and fables of faraway lands, with brave knights, princesses, and little children like themselves who overcome hardships on their journey to self-discovery. What they fail to mention, however, is the overall amount of concealed violence that permeates these stories. Thus, the child listens to them on a daily basis and absorbs their message that some kind of violence is alright, even necessary.
Every culture defines violence according to some personal value system, especially to the circumstances that surround the use of intentional physical force. In stories of the famous Grimm brothers, for instance, the acts of revenge are exemplified as incredibly sinister and almost unnecessarily cruel. In Snow White, the wicked queen is forced to dance until she dies wearing hot, iron shoes, while Cinderella’s mean stepsisters get their eyes pecked out by doves. According to one perspective, this might be seen as domestic violence over women, though the protagonists are in reality, merely retaliating for a deed that is definitely evil, after all, the queen wished Snow White dead while Cinderella’s stepmother and stepsisters treated her like a servant instead of part of the family. Be that as it may, the good characters in fairy tales are supposed to demonstrate a state of mind far superior to that of the evil characters, showing the reader a different path to that of merely returning the favor.
Still, no one reading these all too familiar fairy tales feels any sympathy towards the evil characters. The story unravels itself and everybody gets their fair share. However, in the formative years of the child, one should not neglect teaching the lessons of forgiveness and demonstrating that sometimes, there is more power in forgiving someone than in taking revenge. And, this is exactly what these stories lack. They create an aura in the mind of children that the best way to deal with people is using the good old saying an eye for an eye. Consequently, this could be exactly why there is so much violence prevailing within families. If one is wronged, in any way possible, one should retaliate. Forgiveness equals weakness, and no one wants to be perceived as weak.
In addition to domestic violence, fairy tales are abundant with child maltreatment, such as the case of Hansel and Gretel. The story is again, equally well known as the ones previously mentioned, and despite their apparent viciousness of treating children in times of crises, it continues to be a bedtime favorite. Due to hard times of famine, Hansel and Gretel are taken into the forest by the father, though it is stated that he was forced to do so by the children’s stepmother, and are left there to live or die. Now, this idea seems preposterous to any parent who possesses a normal amount of parenting instincts. No matter how hard it is, a loving parent would never leave his child at the mercy of wild animals or slow starvation in a forest. This idea goes beyond anything a parent can conceive as cruel treatment of children.
Afterward, the resourceful children manage to find a house inside the forest, eventually tricking the wicked witch who lives inside, and burning her alive in her own oven. Some would say that the children merely did what the witch herself was about to do to them: cooking them and then, having them for lunch. But, the idea of children boiling a woman alive does not seem harmless at all, and definitely not something children should do. But then again, how are maltreated children supposed to behave? Hansel and Gretel endured emotional ill-treatment by their stepmother, neglect, they were constantly hungry, and finally, the only person in the world who was supposed to keep them safe, just leaves them in the forest, like wild animals to fend for themselves. In the end of the story, everybody seems to forget the fact that the father had an equal part in neglecting the children, and is focusing all their hatred on the stepmother, the underlying message being that no matter how good the children are, if times become too hard, those who love them the most will turn on them.
Maltreatment of children is also perceptible in children’s nursery rhymes. One of the most famous ones, Rock-a-bay-Baby, which is adorned with a soothing melody, fails to offer the soothing experience to the child. It almost expresses the dissatisfaction of the mother or the governess taking care of it, threatening it that if it does not stop crying, it might have an accident, thus the part that the baby and the cradle will fall down from the tree. Similarly, the story of Humpty Dumpty is equally disturbing. A curious-looking character, who is an egg, falls down from the wall, cracking, and cannot be put back together again. It might be teaching the children not to climb high trees and walls, or else they will end up broken on the ground, like Humpty Dumpty. Still, the image seems to be an overly vivid one, especially for a child’s imagination. Also, the image of the old lady living in a shoe with her children, whom there are so many that she cannot count them all, is one of a neglectful mother. She does not know what to do with her children, so she feeds them, beats them and then sends them to bed. Stressed out, poor and hungry, she appears to be the perfect image of someone who neglects her child, where this neglect even borders on abuse.
A closer look into these fairy tales and nursery rhymes opens an astonishing horizon of concealed violence, one that has made the child accustomed to it, through years of conditioning, so that after some time, the reality of violence does not affect it anymore. Still, such stories of violence do evoke further images in the psyche of children who learn to know them and love them. Consequently, it is important to explain to the child the nature of this violence and where the line must be drawn, so that it can have a healthy attitude to its childhood and life.
