Fairy Tales

A speech I made in Toastmasters club in 2021 or so.I am not exactly sure of this date but it would have been in 2019 or 2021. It was in 1919, after world war I, that the Irish poet WB Yeats wrote the famous line, the center cannot hold in a poem titled Second Coming. Turning and turning in the widening gyre, the falcon cannot hear the falconer. Things fall apart, the center cannot hold, mere anarchy is loosed upon the world. To me such a world is disturbing. I like the world to be simple and I like to believe in absolute good. I like to believe in a world where the center does hold. To me fairy tales take me to that world, a world perhaps rooted in imagination, but definitely purer than a chaotic, conflict filled, complexity ridden world that is often considered the real world. Today I would like to talk about fairy tales and how they impact children and shape their world view. I would like to look at the story of Cinderella, Snowwhite and the Seven Dwarfs, Little Red Riding Hood and Little Mermaid. In fairy tales humans interact with fairies, or dwarfs, or witches and giants, fairy godmothers can turn your rags into a party gown, dwarfs can lead an idyllic existence in the middle of forests, animals can be your friends and can help in housework, mirrors can talk, wolves can mislead little girls, and mermaids can learn to walk. Most fairy tales don't have a sad ending. Snow white comes back to life, Cinderella is rescued from the cinders, Little Red Riding Hood and her grandmother come out of the wolf's stomach. Characters in fairy tales are completely and clearly one way or another. Good, kind, evil, devious, innocent, malicious. In fairy tales good is good and evil is evil. And good can become successful. Gray areas rarely exist within fairy tales. They often contain oversimplification of characters because that is how they teach us universal truths. Fairytales teach us life lessons wrapped in a story. The effect of fairy tales on the development of the imagination and intellect of pre school children is profound. When listening to fairy tales children are often deeply affected by the content of the story and at the same time their imagination develops and takes on new shapes. Imagination is an indispensable element of the life of every child as it allows children to cross the borders of the real world hence to find themselves in a fantastic and imaginary time--just like the child's favorite character. Fairy tales also show us how fallen this world is. Cinderella's step mom and step sisters mistreat Cinderella, the wicked stepmother consumed by jealousy and competition tries to poison her own step daughter, a wolf misleads a child on an errand to her grandmother, a wolf eats the grandmother and the child. Fairy tales do not ignore the existence of evil but show us a way to avoid evil. Fairy tales enrich the imagination, cultivate a deeper understanding of life's great truths and elevate understanding of spiritual things that can be difficult and complex to convey. Fairy tales are stories that try to find the truth and give us glimpses of greater things. The simplicity of responding to evil with good is reassuring to a child struggling to make sense of the world around them. In the story of Cinderella, Cinderella responds to her mistreatment by her step mother and step sisters with humility, hard work and hope. She uncomplainingly does all the chores to the satisfaction of her step mom and sisters, never desires what her step sisters have or never resents their good fortune, and eventually her goodness causes fortune to find her. Cinderella's story teaches us the importance of kindness, patience and fairness. The Cinderella story teaches kids that they can make good choices when faced with difficult circumstances and unfair treatment. Cinderella is the story of a beloved daughter turned into a servant because she is like a servant in her step family. Cinderella has lost her father and is looking for a sense of belonging. Although Cinderella's circumstances change from beloved daughter to servant Cinderella does not hesitate to show kindness to the new people in her life. This shows children that even if they are surrounded by a sea of unkindness or impurity they can choose to be kind and pure. Cinderella shows that while she is ordered around she orders her inner world, a world her step family cannot touch. Even though Cinderella's goodness is not rewarded Cinderella maintains a cheerful attitude and purity of heart. She refuses to become bitter, or cruel. She shows initiative and resourcefulness by befriending small creatures who prove kindred spirits. Cinderella has chores. Cinderella's work ethic teaches children that tasks while unwanted and unpleasant can be dealt with in a constructive manner. Cinderella is forced to live in poverty while those around her enjoy comforts. Cinderellas choices teach children about endurance, maintaining an optimistic attitude and enjoying simple pleasures, maintaining personal integrity and purity and not giving in to despair, and the importance of holding on to a deeper value system. The glass slipper is perhaps symbolic of the idea that our lives are fragile and we need to protect that which is valuable to us. Never take the good things in your life for granted because time changes everything. The story of Snow White and the seven dwarfs is familiar to us all. Snow White can teach kids a lot of universal truths and life skills. Snow White teaches us that it is wonderful to have friends. When Snow white has nowhere to go she is welcomed into the humble abode of seven dwarfs. These creatures welcome her, give her a home and are very protective toward her. Another lesson Snow white teaches us is that it is good to believe in the goodness within all people. Snow white appealed to the goodness in the woodsman to spare her life because she believed that deep inside he was capable of goodness. Snow white was right because the woodsman spared her life. Another lesson that we can learn from Snow White is which Snow White herself did not keep is the danger inherent in talking to strangers and letting strangers into your house. Snow White also teaches us the importance of politeness and contributing positively in every situation. Although she took shelter in the dwarfs home without their permission, she was polite and made a contribution to the home by cleaning it and cooking for the dwarfs. Although the wicked stepmother tried to kill Snowwhite, Snow white never became bitter. She was always, hopeful and cheerful. The story of Red Riding Hood stresses the theme of safety and how it is important to be cautious. In the story of the Red Riding Hood the forest is presented as a dangerous setting. Little red riding hood had to cross a forest to visit her grandmother. During the journey she comes across the evil wolf who asks her where she is going and convinces her to race him to her grandmothers house. The wolf shows little red riding hood the short cut which turns out to be the longest way. We can learn from the story of little red riding hood not to trust strangers, not to share personal information with strangers and not to lower one's guard. This story also has an important lesson for parents—never to take the safety of our children for granted. The biggest lesson from Little Mermaid is that she lost or gave up the most important part of her identity—her voice in order to get the love of a prince. Ariel went to a dangerous part of the sea world to meet Ursula a witch where she had to sign an agreement to give up her voice which was the most important part of her identity in return for human legs so she could be with the prince. She made a decision based on fear that without human legs she would be rejected. Ariel lost her voice to acquire human legs. Eventually Ariel lost the prince as well as her voice. Unlike the other fairy tales the story of the Little Mermaid has a tragic ending with an important lesson. We have to be loved for who we are. And not lose our identity to be loved. We live in a world of cell phones and computers. Yet the ancient and universal messages conveyed by fairy tales can still teach us a few lessons about navigating life in this world. *********************************** Although I have read these tales as a child and enjoyed them tremendously and always treasured them in my heart, in order to write this speech interpreting the fairy tales I read lots of internet articles about the impact of fairy tales.