Yamilet Urquiqo

Fairy Tales and Fantasy: Are they Fundamental in a Child’s Life?

     In “The Child’s Need for Magic,” Bruno Bettelheim claims that fairy tales are essential in a child’s life to promote healthy psychological development. In other words, fantasy and imagination are crucial during childhood, because they enable children to feel secure and confident in their own abilities. Establishing this confidence during the youthful stages of life allows children to grow up as secure adults capable of being productive in their personal and professional lives. Bettelheim argues that a child’s inability to comprehend “abstract concepts” emphasizes his/her need for fairy tales as guides to true understanding. For example, it would be nearly impossible for a child to understand that the earth remains in space because gravity (an invisible force) holds it in place; it is much easier for a child to believe that the earth rests on a turtle’s back because, based on a child’s experience, an object must rest on something to remain firmly in place. Thus, Bettelheim asserts, “only an explanation based on that knowledge can make [the child] feel he/she understands better about the earth in space”.

     If one, as an adult, deprives a child of fairy tales which creatively explain abstract concepts, a child might grow up to be an insecure adult. Why? Because the child who learns through mere adult reasoning loses confidence in himself and in his capacity to come up with a solution to a problem. In fact, a child never really learns lessons or comprehends concepts when he/she is given scientific explanations, but instead memorizes and parrots what adults have dictated to him as true. Therefore, Bettelheim concludes that:

     “realistic explanations are usually incomprehensible to children, because they lack the abstract understanding required to make   sense of them. While giving a scientifically correct answer makes adults think they have clarified things for the child, such explanations leave the young child confused, over powered, and intellectually defeated. A child can derive security only from the conviction that he understands now what baffled him before—never from being given facts which create new uncertainties.”

     With fairy tales, a child can actually relate to the images and characters in a tale and identify with them because these personages were created with animistic thinkers in mind. Although fairy tales offer answers to some of life’s questions, these answers are often considered more “fantastic than true”. Nevertheless, fairy tales are suggestively written and “leave to the child’s fantasizing whether and how to apply to himself what the story reveals about life and human nature”.

     For example, in “Tom Thumb,” a fairytale by the Grimm Brothers, a child can learn that strength and intelligence should not be measured by physical appearance or size. Tom Thumb is the only son of a poor married couple who desire a child to bring joy into their lifeless household. Are telling of this tale found online in The Literature Page” shows us the poor peasant poking the fire, while his wife mentions her longing to have a child: ‘“even if we had only one, and it were quite small, and only as big as a thumb, I should be quite satisfied”. And so it happens that the peasant’s wife gives birth to an infant who is no longer than a thumb. The new-born is appropriately named for his size, but the parents soon learn that his stature doesn’t hinder his ability to handle situations.

     When Tom’s father is getting ready to travel into the forest to cut some wood for the fireplace, for instance, he silently wishes that he had someone to drive the cart for him. Tom knows that his father needs help and offers his assistance. Despite his father’s skepticism, Tom manages to bring the cart to his father by sitting in the horse’s ear and dictating directions. This situation is just one of many in which Tom proves he can be successful, despite his lack of height. In an attempt to earn some money for his parents, Tom agrees to leave his family to travel with two men who are amazed by Tom’s short stature. The men believe that Tom will ensure them a fortune when they put him on exhibit in town. Tom, however, has other plans and as soon as he has an opportunity, he escapes from the men and hides in a mouse hole until he is left alone.

     Eventually, Tom ends up sleeping in a pile of hay where he is swallowed whole by a cow. He resides in the cow’s stomach until the cow’s owner, a pastor, orders the cow to be killed, for he believes that the cow is possessed by an evil spirit. Just as Tom frees himself from the cow’s intestines, a ravenous wolf swallows him whole. Thus, Tom relaxes in the wolf’s paunch until he tells the wolf that he knows of a house where the wolf can feast on food galore. The wolf is intrigued and willingly travels to the house which happens to be Tom’s home. After the wolf eats all he can eat, Tom begins to yell from within the wolf’s stomach. His parents wake up, kill the wolf, and free Tom from the wolf’s intestines. Tom is united with his family and jubilation reigns in the Thumb household once more.

     Tom might only be as tall as a thumb, but his wit and ability to effectively deal with dangerous situations, proves that height doesn’t necessarily affect a person’s ability to be triumphant or heroic. As a child reads this fairy tale, he/she relates to the character of Tom Thumb, for Tom reflects a feeling of invincibility so common in youth. Tom is also shorter than the average six or seven year old, so he schemes to solve his dilemmas and executes them effectively, making the child feel that he can also rely on his own ability to come up with solutions to his tribulations. Hence, “Tom Thumb” proves Bettelheim’s theory-- fantasy and fairy tales are essential if children are going to learn moral lessons and build character and confidence that will help them later in adult life.

Yamilet Urquijo
CM 120.01
Prof. Abdoo