The Red Shoe by Ursula Dubosarsky and Stardust Novels by Neil Gaiman - Essay Example

? Children's Literature: The Red Shoe by Ursula Dubosarsky and Stardust Novels by Neil Gaiman Folk tales and fairy tales have long been accepted and encouraged in cultural memories and have had significant social functions. Not only has children’s literature dramatically altered over the decades, but it also has demonstrated how postmodern lifestyle has modified and shaped the concept of childhood. The established modification of children’s literature is a reflection of the social situations of children’s fears and desires. The Red Shoe by Ursula Dubosarsky (2006) is an inspiring tale for young adult readers belonging to the genre of fantasy fiction. The elements of mystery, realism, and fairy tale have been weaved together to create a plot of family tension and crisis during the 1954 Australian Cold War narrated by the main character Matilda, who’s’ childhood simplicity shapes the course of the story. Likewise, the award-winning novel Stardust by Neil Gaiman (1999) is a fantasy fiction that also centers on a child. Young Tristan Thorn sets on a quest to find a fallen star for his young love Victoria, however, he is challenged with different adventures whilst retrieving the star for his lover. Accordingly, both novels associate fairy tale elements to present the fears and desires of childhood and adolescence. This paper will demonstrate how folk tales through to literary fairy tales have been modified over time to present the fears and desires of readers and listeners especially children and adolescents. Through comparison between the two texts, The Red Shoe (Dubosarsky 2006) and Stardust (Gaiman 1999), the paper will show how the context of the novels present the fairy tales to address contemporary fears and desires and how traditional fears and desires have been altered within the contemporary context of the two novels. In addition, this paper aims to evaluate different positions of authors such as Jack Zipes, Bruno Bettelheim, Donald Haase and Karen Coats etc., to demonstrate that fairy tales and folktales are grounded in the everyday desires and fears of ordinary people. The significance of fairy tales and folktales are grounded in everyday desires and fears of ordinary people. They are essential topics that represent the needs, fears and desires of human beings. People interpret fairy tales and folklores in different perspectives and heritages. The significance of fairy tales and folklores has attracted experts who study and explore their use with different aims and perspectives. These experts include folklorists, psychoanalysts, socio-historians, sociolinguists and literary critics. Fairy tales and folklores have a relationship with myths that different societies hold. They create different themes and symbols that relate to specific lessons they intend to pass to the public (Stephens, 2010, 54). Before the seventeenth century, most literary works that were developed for children taught biblical and moral lessons. Fairy tales and folklores were told in the form or oral tradition. For instance, Grimm`s Kinder-und Hausmarchen developed in 1800s included tales that concentrated on moral lessons and religious teachings. They were translated to English in 1823 making them popular tales over time. In the nineteenth century, the subjects addressed by fairy tales and folklores changed to include values of education (Pearson & Reynolds, 2010, 70). However, they still concentrate on moral teachings. The themes and motifs of the tales inculcated in children the importance of moral education. It is at this time that the theme of cannibalism arose as a major facet of folklores and fairy tales. Many prominent folklorists and literary critics among other experts, including Peter Opie, Geza Roheim and Marian Warner embraced the idea of cannibalism. The cannibal character in these tales signified danger and death (Pearson & Reynolds, 2010, 70). Many theories that talk about fairy tales and folklores express a premise that most stories give a symbolic expression of what goes on in the mind of a human being and the emotional experiences that occur because of this. Therefore, these theories assume that fairy tales and folklores represent social and historical realities that surround human beings. Some of them state that these stories give a clear view of the things that happen in inner experiences of human behavior. However, other scholars like Sigmund Freud pursue the idea that folklores represent a form of wishful fulfillment that occurs in form of a symbolic dream expression desires like sexual desires. Another scholar called Otto Rank went on to explore this topic in his study titled The Myth of the Birth of the Hero, 1909. He states that fairy tales and folklores represent projections of childhood fantasies from adults. Roheim (1952) in his work titled the gates of the dream states that fairy tales are not just dreams but they are those dreams newly formed by the person. Therefore, different scholars present different arguments about folklores and fairy tales. However, all of them had a common feature in their arguments. All these arguments channel back to human beings. All their arguments show that fairy tales and folklores are a representation of human desires and fears (Tartar, 1999, 214). The red shoes is a story about a girl who was forced to dance while putting on her red shoes. The story was written by a Danish poet and Hans Christian Andersen. It is a story about a girl, Karen from a peasant family. An old woman who was rich and had lost her mother adopts Karen. She once had a red shoe before adoption. However, she tricked the old woman to buy her a red shoe that would make her look like a princess. She continually wore the shoe when she went to church and ignored the stares from other people. A mysterious soldier appeared and commented on the shoes. Suddenly, Karen started dancing and she could not stop. The shoe joined in the dance and she lost control over it. She could not attend the funeral of her foster mother. An angel appeared to her with sword and forced her to dance in her after life. This acts as a warning to other children. She begged for mercy but the red shoe could not allow her. The story continues with these scary details. At last, the angel came and offered Karen mercy. Her soul flied in daylight to heaven. However, nobody mentioned the red shoe. It also presents Russian spies children who die because of polio infection and saddening murders presented in newspapers (Shavit, 1999, 317) Stardust was written by Neil Gaiman as his first solo prose novel. The story is about Faerie market that was held after a period of nine years consecutively. It divides faerie from the normal world. The market event has just started and visitors have filled the town. Dustan rents his cottage to an unknown person so that he can get the desire of his heart and money. He met with a beautiful princess that had been imprisoned by Semele, a witchdoctor. Dustan and Una made love before he married Daisy after one month. The story is about witchcraft. There are instances where the scary power of witchcraft comes out clearly. For instance, the witch-queen and Semele use meat prepared with Limbus grass that makes people to tell the truth. The witch also changes a goat into a man. The witch and Semele use their powers to control people whenever they want to get something from them. The story ends as the witches lose their power, Yvaine and Tristan go back to Storm hold. These stories are fairy tales that express the fears and desires of human beings, especially to children and adolescents. Fairy tales and folklores represent a social phenomenon and a shared experience from the time immemorial and even in the present day. They are accustomed by the norms and values of the society in which they exist. However, experiences from the fairy tales show that some ancient forms of society and ancient needs may be functional in the modern day world. For instance, the red show and stardust stories were developed long time ago but they still present an experience in the modern day world. The red shoe by is a story that presents a child point of view about desires and the fear of death. First, the red show addresses contemporary desires of childhood and adolescence (Dubosarsky 2006). It presents children aged between the age of six and fifteen who are scared because of deaths and murders that happen around them. Despite this, the story happens during Easter time. This presents certain desires for them. The story presents the possibility of having the royal Easter show, family trips and picnics to various places and parades. In the contemporary society, children and adolescents face many threatening experiences that expose them to deaths and other dangerous issues, such as diseases. However, children do not stop fantasizing about the good things that happen around them. Children like adventurous things, such as dancing. Therefore, the red shoe captures a picture of children and adolescents in the contemporary society. The red shoe can be used to teach children that life is made of happiness and sadness. It can be used to introduce them to the concept of diseases, war, death and murder (Dubosarsky 2006). The story also addresses the fears of children. Children fear war, diseases and deaths among other things. The story has captured this fact effectively. For instance, it shows the shadow of the war that manifested in the figure of their absentee and damaged father. The point of view of a child gives us the concept of their imaginary friends, fairy tales and secrets. Children display a form of truth that goes beyond their ability to understand consciously the things that happen in their present world (Falconer, 2010). Children and adolescents live in a world full of imagination. The red shoes acts as a motif that links the imaginary world to the real world (Flanagan, 2010, 32). For instance, Matilda presents a voice of a six-year-old child that is angry because her uncle scared off a goanna that would help her get the first position in her class. She does not understand why her friend mark died. When a child in the contemporary society reads or is told this story he or she will identify with Matilda and share her experiences. Despite the fact that the story involves female characters, the red shoes would appeal to children of both sexes. It provides a chance for children to understand death and world history in somewhat direct experience (Flanagan, 2010, 32). In contrast, the stardust story is a fantasy book that separates the real world from an imaginary world full of magic. Neil Gaiman presents the story in the novel in a way that seems attractive to a child. Children generally fear and like magical things (Gaiman, 1999). They present their curiosity to know what happens in the magical world that is different from the real world that they occupy. Stardust is a form of imaginative story that make children more imaginative. This fantasy and imaginative story makes children fantasize and imagine in response to the situations that the story exposes them. In the contemporary society, the stardust story would help children and adolescents fantasize and imagine in response to present situations and people that they associate with everyday. Children learn from imagination and understand issues through fantasy (Coats, K 2010 75). The stardust story presents magical and real worlds where those who live in a magical world make those who are in the real world suffer. However, as the story ends those who controlled the magical world pay for their actions in a painful way. Therefore, this can teach children that despite the mightiness of individuals they do not have immunity from justice. The story captures their future desires especially the adolescents, for instance marriage. For instance, J. Piaget, states that the fantasy helps to develop the cognitive processes of a child through accommodation and assimilation to the structures of social realty (Singer 1981: 129). In conclusion, the red shoes and stardust fairy tales address the contemporary desires and fears of children and adolescents as discussed above. Children learn through imagination and fantasy. Their cognitive abilities develop as they imagine and fantasize about images and their future. Clearly, both novels associate fairy tale elements that present the fears and desires of children and adolescence. This paper has demonstrated the way folk tales and literary fairy tales have been modified over time and present the fears and desires of readers and listeners. Therefore, drawing a comparison in the two texts, The Red Shoe (Dubosarsky 2006) and Stardust (Gaiman 1999), depicting how the context of the novels express the fairy tale in addressing contemporary fears and desires and the way traditional fears and desires have been altered within the contemporary context of the two novels. References Dubosarsky, U., 2006. The Red shoe. New York: Allen & Unwin. Falconer, F, 2010. Young Adult Fiction and the Crossover Phenomenon, in Rudd, D (ed.)Routledge Companion to Children's Literature. Routledge, London, pp. 87-99. Flanagan, V, Gender Studies, in Rudd, D (ed.) 2010, Routledge Companion to Children's Literature. Routledge, London, pp. 29-38. Gaiman, N 1999, Stardust, Headline Publishing, London. Pearson, L & Reynolds, K, ‘Realism’, in Rudd, D (ed.) 2010, Routledge Companion to Children's Literature. Routledge, London, pp. 63-74. Coats, K, 2010, ‘Fantasy’. The Routledge companion to children’s literature, in D Rudd (ed). Routledge, London, pp. 75-86. Stephens, J, Companion to Children's Literature: Narratology. Routledge, London, pp. 51-62. Tartar, M. (ed.) 1999, ‘Introduction: Hans Christian Andersen’, The Classic Fairy Tales: texts, Criticism. Norton, New York, pp. 212-216. Shavit, Z 1999, ‘The concept of childhood and children’s folktales: test case – little red ridin hood’, in Tartar, M. (ed.) The Classic Fairy Tales: texts, criticism Norton, New York, pp. 317-332. Read More