Oscar Wilde

Prior to this week’s class about Oscar Wilde, I had never read anything by the famous author (I had thought I did, but I was wrong). These stories are quite different than any other type of story analyzed thus far- and we’ve looked at a variety of stories from European, to Native American. But the tales from Jewish religion are the ones that come closest to the tales of Wilde. It’s important to note, personally, I was not raised Christian, and so many of the symbolism very much “flew over my head” so to speak. But I found the sacrificial elements in all the stories to be quite interesting.

Most so in “The Happy Prince”, where the spirit of the Prince made great strides to save his people. I also found the end scene with the Mayor arguing about whom the statue should be made after next to be poignant- with some people, once the history is gone, they focus on which of the people has done the most charity work, but in a selfish competition, not done out of the goodness of a heart. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this story, as I felt that it was something that could easily be related to the modern society. 

As stated before, what makes these stories different from those of any of the other European stories we have read is the element of religion in combination with sacrifice. Many of the tales of Judaism, of course, discuss the key role of religion when miracles occur, and the idea of having faith in a higher power- just as with “The Selfish Giant”.

Traveling back to Native American Times

This week in Dr. Esa’s ‘Folk and Fairy Tale Class’, we focused on two different types of tales, unlike many traditional types. We learned more about the influence of religion (Judaism) and culture (Native American).

 

Perhaps what is most interesting about the Native American tales is how different they are than the traditional European, while also being much more like African tales. The reasoning for this could be the influence of the necessity of community among the culture. For example, ‘How Mosquitoes Came to Be’- this story tells how, as the title states, how mosquitoes came to be (video seen to the right). Both African and Native American stories use silly stories as an explanation for how everyday occurrences came to be. 

One of the things that I as a female, appreciated the most about the Native American tales is the treatment of females. Of the stories we read, the females were always depicted as equals to men or tricksters- such as the young mother in the story, ‘The Flying Head’. Women are always able to be on the same level as men, which is rare-to-none occurrence in many European tales. 

There is also a heavy focus on the council in these stories. If there was an important decision to be made, no single person made it alone, they had to refer to the council of elders to help. It was a democracy before the term even existed. 

A Peer-to-Peer Review

First off! Take a look at Jill's blog if you can! https://jillsfolkandfairytales.blogspot.com/

 
This week's blog is all about reviewing each other's last three blogs, so here we go!

Pic from Bing

 

Blog 8: The Child As A Hero

I agree with Jill’s introduction on her blog entry ‘the child as a hero’. It is important to be inspiring for young readers, as many children encounter bullies and struggle daily with self-esteem- I experienced it, I watched my middle sister encounter it, and I am currently watching my youngest sibling struggle with her confidence as well. She would likely enjoy the story of “Little Thumbling”, as I know she often feels overlooked by many people, as she is much younger than the middle sibling and myself. Both “Little Thumbling” and “Fulano de Tal and His Children”, as Jill mentioned, inspires young readers to continue reading to encourage quick thinking.

 

Blog 7: Kenyan Folklore

The way Jill formatted the blog to review everything we had discussed during Dr. Ochien ‘K’ Olewe’s lecture is extremely easy to read, and points out the major highlights of the lecture- such has everyone participating to make it “our story”, dramatizing the story, and breaking the story into episodes of singing and speaking, to capture the audience’s attention. Her pictures that she included, such as the fire at night (as the stories were often told at night, as that was when the work was done), and the illustration of the monkey and the shark (one of the tales shared with us), help to reminisce of the fascinating lecture we had that day.

Gif from Google

 

Blog 6: Cinderella

I appreciate the criticism that Jill applied to the movies of “Cinderella” and “Pretty Woman”, as from a feminist perspective, I agree that the rags to riches motif is, unfortunately, extremely unrealistic for so many women and, unfortunately, it doesn’t show to them the other options they have in the world. While, yes, Vivian does decide to go back to school at the end of “Pretty Woman”, she never would have made that decision if she hadn’t met Edward. Perhaps when these movies originally came out, these were possible narratives to hope for and work towards, but in the modern age, it just isn’t possible.

 

The Child as a Hero

Children are almost always overlooked and looked down upon in almost every day life- not just in fairy tales, but in television shows and movies as well. That is so often why children are portrayed as underdogs in these stories. Nobody expects Hansel and Gretel, of the tale of the same name by Brothers Grimm, to be able to outwit the witch and rescue themselves. They are much more intelligent than they are ever given credit for, and as such they are underdogs. 

Image from Pinterest

Now, when it comes to Jack, from Jack and the Beanstalk by Joseph Jacobs, our young hero is given a trait that most would find undesirable in an adult, much less a child- greed. Jack shows his greed and hunger for wealth by going back up the beanstalk again and again, grabbing items repeatedly that will help Jack’s wealth grow- the bag of gold, the egg, the hen, and finally the harp. Each item is bigger than the last. 

Bettelheim reflects on some of the motifs we read through this past week (such as having bad parents, encountering an evil witch or ogre, etc.) and what that means for many of the children.

For Hansel and Gretel, as per Bettelheim, the children are still extremely attached to their parents, despite their inability to care for the children- they suffer from starvation anxiety (both food and attention starvation), and the kids must venture out to find food (oral greed) as their only solution. And what do they find? An entire house made out of sweets, with a witch inside (which could be interpreted as how the children see their evil mother that forced them out of the house).