All children grow up in the magical world of fairy tales that have been so gripping and inspiring. Most of the legends are about challenges and tough times plus how the main character deals with injustices in their lives. Although the primary motive behind telling those fairy tales is pure entertainment for children, the tales are well known as a literary genre. Thus, there is a lot more to those fairy tales as they have a lot to offer to people of all age groups. The setting of the storyline sis simple in nature and magical. The characters are stereotypical, and they establish simple contrasts that often get repeated in several fairy tales. It is the simplicity in the storylines that make it easy for children to follow them. While some are long journeys, others are about the problems faced by the main character. However, when you look closer, those simple fairy tales hold a lot more substance. Fairy tales are full of magical events and elements. The reader gets taken to an imaginary world as they read the entertaining stories. The stories are simple, easy to follow and avoid too many characters. Reading those stories together means spending quality time with your family, parents, brothers and sisters. It is not difficult to understand why those fairy tales are loved by children. The children get encouragement to use their imagination and fantasy based on those stories. They can make up their own stories and understand the main plot, with all the good and the bad. They love the idea of a magical world and mysterious land full of animals, places, goons, wizards, dwarfs, witches and fairies, prince and princesses and a lot more. They learn to connect their life with the story, and the importance of the good to triumph over evil.
Fantasy and imagination Little children love the idea of being a price or princess. This is why they love it when their mother and father tell them that “You’ll always be my little princess” or a little prince. Prince and princesses are meant to be pure, angelic and precious in fairy tales. One of the major characteristics of fairy tales is how they motivate children to imagine and fantasize. They encourage children to think and imagine. It is seen that fantasy is connected with generalization and abstraction and develops the ability to create (Whelpton 9). Moreover, what makes the stories more interesting for children is the blend of nature and magic in them. Nature sets a scene of credibility and fills the land with wonder and amazement because of the magical touch. Nature evokes the power of magic, which in turn brings out the powers of non-magical beings. In fairy tales, you will come across elves, dwarfs and dragons that can be met only in the fictional world. The animals and humans appear side by a side and even converse with each other. Thus, both man and animals play a significant role in the fairy tales and send a message subconsciously that it is essential to respect nature and animals. The magical and inspiring tales have a lot more to offer than just a source of entertainment and reading. Both children and adults can get something out of the fairy tales. Those memorable stories may be short, but are full of fun, thrill and excitement. However, if you look under the surface, there is a deeper meaning and understanding to them. It is wrong to assume that fairy tales are only meant for children. Even the adults can find them useful and can find them fun to read and gather valuable lessons from them. Fairy tales present the situations and actions one gets involved with in real life and based on familiar emotions.The difficult journeys The situations and events in most fairy tales can relate to not just the children but are relevant for adults. The journey of life is full of problems and difficulties. Moreover, the major part of the story in those fairy tales is all about how to overcome problems and solve difficulties. Thus, they oftenreflect real life situations and are often metaphorical. The reader often comes across similar situations in the stories that they experience in real life (Whelpton1). The mental or physical journeys taken by the main characters in fairy tales can be likened to the journey of life. Both children and adults can recall many similar situations in real life conditions when they have to face adversities and must overcome them somehow. They have obstacles in the form of other people who make things even more difficult. Those quests in fairy tales reflect life situations, and this is why they make people feel good as they always end on a positive note. There is rivalry shown between daughter and step daughter or a step mother. Fairies in the story appear as helpers and saviors. Their role is to save the good prices or the heroin from the evils around her. The hero or the heroine gets protected because of their right virtues. Bad behavior is punished while good behavior gets rewarded.
The triumph of good In most fairy tales, it is the good against bad, the hardworking against lazy and the intelligent against stupid. It is interesting to note that the story becomes interesting only when there is some adversity, or the happiness gets blocked. Similar dynamics are seen in real life situations where one has to face impossible tasks at a time. The fairy tales have remained popular today because of their simplicity and their emphasis on morality. It is reassuring to know that you will be rewarded if you do well; then there is hope in real life. It is the hope for a happy ending that drives many people through life. Even if one goes through tough times and are faced with difficulties, they can get through hard times and come out with flying colors. The happy endings in fairy tales offer hope and leave one on a positive note about life.
Happily ever after Fairy tales teach one how to escape those adverse situations with all the positive virtues of patience, truth, and love. (Whelpton18) Many people need a consolation that truth triumphs in the end, and this gets reinforced once they read those fairy tales that offer a sort of escape. The happy ending and positivism give one a consolation and a sense of comfort. Most fairy tales end with the phrase - “they lived happily ever after” and this assures the reader that the main characters were happy for the rest of their lives. Families and lovers get reunited, and those happy endings spark hope. The end offers the reader the hope that if they stick to the right virtues, they will be able to find true happiness in the real world.Valuable lessons of life As children grow older, they are bound to face difficulties and injustices in their environment, whether they are in the classroom, in the playground, in a school bus or at home. Numerous fairy tales have a brave and confident hero or heroine as the central character. The delightful stories are imaginative but magnificently enchanting. It is the morals of these stories and the valuable lessons of life they teach that are far more important than the events themselves (Ogden 2015). It is always the good that triumphs over evil and the wicked get punished in the end while the righteous live happily ever after. The fairy tales always have a positive ending, and thus, give one hope and uplift their spirits. Cinderella is shown to bear with injustice and cruelty all the time, because of her evil stepsisters. However, because of the goodness in her, a Fairy Godmother comes to help her out of her miseries. She has to overcome her problems at home, and it is because she is on the right path and does things in a proper way that she is rewarded in the end. The fairy tale of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs is about a little princess who is not treated well by her wicked stepmother. Still, she is sent help in the form of the Seven Dwarfs who help her out and keep her safe. Snow White escapes her evil stepmother, and she works hard and is nice to dwarfs she stays with. It is when she gives in to the temptation of juicy red apple that she falls prey to the evil plan of her stepmother. Thus, one comes across several examples protagonists on a journey here and who come across problems. The tale of Hansel and Gretel is meant to warn the children from wandering off and keep them safe. The children learn that it can be dangerous to not to obey parents, and one can fall into a trap if they wander off alone. On the other hand, children learn that Hansel and Grethel were brave and not afraid when they were looking for their home in the dark forest. They do not lose their sense even when the witch captures them and plans to eat them one day. Because of their smartness and cool head, they get rewarded with treasures and a happy reunion with their father. The Pied Piper of Hamelin is another very popular tale that teaches one to keep their promises. The elders get punished by losing their children, and the story sends a powerful message of why it is essential not to be greedy and not to break promises. The famous story about Little Red Hen may not conform to the absolute definition of a fairy tale, but it has valuable morals to teach. When her friends don’t help the hen in preparing food, the hen doesn’t share the food with them when it is ready. Thus, if one doesn’t contribute, they do not have any right to enjoy the results. There are valuable lessons to be learned from the story about the Little Red Hen, and the main one is about hard work. So, work comes first, and enjoyment later. This tale offers valuable insight on basic life cycle with the detailed procedure of making bread. Gingerbread man, another timeless classic may look line an ordinary fairy tale with a hero. However, it has multiple morals hidden underneath. It conveys that no matter what age, gender or size if one tries real hard, they can achieve success. Somebody faster or smarter will always get ahead. There is a very realistic message here in the international folklore that shows the hero, aiming for the seemingly impossible goal. It is after he encounters different characters that he can undergo transformation and achieves the goal to live happily ever after. The journeys are difficult in the fairy tales. Cinderella gets mistreated all the way and is awfully mistreated by her wicked stepfamily. Alice falls a rabbit hole and enters a completely different and mystical world. Dorothy encounters evil along the way on the yellow brick road as she journeys to Oz. while the stories and tales are read and heard for the sole purpose of entertainment, there are a deeper meaning and hidden morals in them. The stories teach everyone how to differentiate between good and bad. While the world may seem like a bad place to swallow you up, and you may come across individuals that symbolize those Wicked Witches and wizards or the flying monkeys, the fantasy in the fairy tales always show the good winning over the bad. There is a main key figure in the fairy tales and it is around him or her, their life and aspirations that the plot revolves around. The protagonist always has a serious problem in life or a challenge that they must overcome. As the story progresses, moral values and lessons are dealt with. Those fairy tales portray situations from the real world, and readers come across real emotions of fear, love, anger, hatred that they experience in real life. Many stories revolve around abandonment or the fear of being left alone. Others deal with greed and envy. People can relate to those positive and negative emotions (Whelpton14). Those stories of enchanted forests filled with cunning wolves, or charming princes out to woo sleeping beauties teach us important life lessons. Still, one cannot rely on a fairy godmother to appear in real life and create their own happy endings with essential steps in the right and forward direction. Even as adults we can learn from those fairytale characters and learn how to navigate life.
Works Cited
Ogden, Valerie."The True Stories behind Classic Fairy Tales.” huffingtonpost. 2015. Web. 22 Feb. 2016.
Whelpton, Matthew J. "Are Fairy Tales Only Children’s Stories?." Ditte Rysgård Kronborg1.1 (2009): 1-27. Print.
