The Importance of Fantasy in Reality
Mary Katherine Capell
ENG 102
Mr. Stubblefield
5/4/12
The Importance of Fantasy in Reality Every child loves the fantasy and magic that every great fairytale possesses. Each story holds plot-twisting surprises such as knights fighting fire-breathing dragons or princesses awakened from death by true love’s kiss. Fairytales offer each child something that reality cannot always provide: hope. Especially in today’s world, children see so many horrible things that they may become very pessimistic towards the idea of a bright future. Often, the adults that influence their worlds do not see the importance of fairytales, and many times, deem them completely insignificant. Contrary to popular belief, fairytales, such as Cinderella, are of great importance to our society. There are certain values that children learn best from fantasy because their reality is the farthest thing from a fairytale world. The role models in the lives of today’s children are often inadequate to properly portray the virtues that society needs in its members. So, fairytales like Cinderella are promising teaching tools. By reading some of the variants of Cinderella, children can learn the importance of having virtues such as kindness, humility, and even perseverance, in society.
In American society, kindness remains an expected virtue for citizens to possess and common courtesy is especially important in the Southern region. One way to perceive kindness is as a preventative method. Kindness is a virtue that, when upheld, can keep people from breaking laws written down by the government and unwritten laws of moral and ethical codes. Because kindness is so essential to a thriving and happy society, it is necessary that children are taught to uphold this significant virtue. The variants of the Cinderella story accomplish just this. The French variant of Cinderella is the variant that most closely resembles the American version of the story, represented by the Walt Disney film. In the French variant,
ENG 102
Mr. Stubblefield
5/4/12
The Importance of Fantasy in Reality Every child loves the fantasy and magic that every great fairytale possesses. Each story holds plot-twisting surprises such as knights fighting fire-breathing dragons or princesses awakened from death by true love’s kiss. Fairytales offer each child something that reality cannot always provide: hope. Especially in today’s world, children see so many horrible things that they may become very pessimistic towards the idea of a bright future. Often, the adults that influence their worlds do not see the importance of fairytales, and many times, deem them completely insignificant. Contrary to popular belief, fairytales, such as Cinderella, are of great importance to our society. There are certain values that children learn best from fantasy because their reality is the farthest thing from a fairytale world. The role models in the lives of today’s children are often inadequate to properly portray the virtues that society needs in its members. So, fairytales like Cinderella are promising teaching tools. By reading some of the variants of Cinderella, children can learn the importance of having virtues such as kindness, humility, and even perseverance, in society.
In American society, kindness remains an expected virtue for citizens to possess and common courtesy is especially important in the Southern region. One way to perceive kindness is as a preventative method. Kindness is a virtue that, when upheld, can keep people from breaking laws written down by the government and unwritten laws of moral and ethical codes. Because kindness is so essential to a thriving and happy society, it is necessary that children are taught to uphold this significant virtue. The variants of the Cinderella story accomplish just this. The French variant of Cinderella is the variant that most closely resembles the American version of the story, represented by the Walt Disney film. In the French variant,