Bettelheim Paper
Richard Buhr
English 1072
Professor Marotta
November 4, 2014
Don’t Expect a Happy Ending
In Bruno Bettelheim’s “The Uses of Enchantment”, Bruno describes how fairy tales are adapted to realistic, everyday problems to guide children’s development to proper decision making as they grow up. As children transition from adolescence to adulthood, they are generally given advice and morals about how to handle the hardships that the world delivers to grown up adults. Bettelheim claims that fairy tales offer solutions to challenging situations, at a level that a child can comprehend and understand. Fairy tales deliberately state a dilemma briefly so the child can fully understand the problem in the tale. Bettelheim also believes that there are no gray areas for people who are good or bad, meaning you are rather a good person or you are evil. This, according to Bettelheim, makes it less difficult for a child to understand the difference between the two. I don’t agree with Bettelheim’s ideas about the value of fairy tales because the outcomes usually are not realistic. Although Bettelheim makes valid claims when he talks about how these stories are to teach young children good morals, there’s some uncertainty that support his claim where misinterpretations of the text in some fairytales clouds Bettelheim’s statements.
The popular children’s fairy tale, Cinderella, can be used as an example that demonstrates that not all fairy tales leave positive influences on child development. Cinderella’s evil stepmother forces Cinderella to become the house servant, making her do all the chores while she and Cinderella’s step sisters treat her harshly. Bettelheim analyzes Cinderella by noting that the vital theme in the story is a competition amongst siblings. He claims “Competition among brothers and sisters presents a profound and largely unconscious problem to children.” I don’t doubt that there’s competition between siblings in a family, however I don’t find it
English 1072
Professor Marotta
November 4, 2014
Don’t Expect a Happy Ending
In Bruno Bettelheim’s “The Uses of Enchantment”, Bruno describes how fairy tales are adapted to realistic, everyday problems to guide children’s development to proper decision making as they grow up. As children transition from adolescence to adulthood, they are generally given advice and morals about how to handle the hardships that the world delivers to grown up adults. Bettelheim claims that fairy tales offer solutions to challenging situations, at a level that a child can comprehend and understand. Fairy tales deliberately state a dilemma briefly so the child can fully understand the problem in the tale. Bettelheim also believes that there are no gray areas for people who are good or bad, meaning you are rather a good person or you are evil. This, according to Bettelheim, makes it less difficult for a child to understand the difference between the two. I don’t agree with Bettelheim’s ideas about the value of fairy tales because the outcomes usually are not realistic. Although Bettelheim makes valid claims when he talks about how these stories are to teach young children good morals, there’s some uncertainty that support his claim where misinterpretations of the text in some fairytales clouds Bettelheim’s statements.
The popular children’s fairy tale, Cinderella, can be used as an example that demonstrates that not all fairy tales leave positive influences on child development. Cinderella’s evil stepmother forces Cinderella to become the house servant, making her do all the chores while she and Cinderella’s step sisters treat her harshly. Bettelheim analyzes Cinderella by noting that the vital theme in the story is a competition amongst siblings. He claims “Competition among brothers and sisters presents a profound and largely unconscious problem to children.” I don’t doubt that there’s competition between siblings in a family, however I don’t find it