In the African American tale of the Little pigs the most remarkable is the language patterns. We can assume that this was in the time of slavery and that might be the reason why the mother is a widowed. The saw had 5 children; this is apparently an aspect of African American families to establish big families to provide emotional and economic support.
Italy has been a center for art and architecture their attention to details and luxury is a characteristic we can see on this story when the little pigs are building comfortable houses with balconies. Another aspect of Italian culture is their cuisine; here the little pig tries to fool the wolf with macaroni which plays an important part on their diet.

In the English story the pigs and the wolf talked about tulips, apple trees describing the landscape. One important aspect of English art is the landscape and country houses seen as a tradition from England. England has a well known poetry and worldwide recognized poets. We can feel that poetic touch on this story.

2.
Rain rain go away,
Come again another day.
Little Johnny wants to play;
Rain, rain, go to Spain,
Never show your face again!

This poem sets back to the time when England and Spain were enemies. Spanish were sent to invade England but they were defeated because of a stormy weather. The rain seem to bring good luck and victory to England while failure to Spain.

Little Pig

The story of the pigs (African-American) was written by Joel Chandler Harris (1848-1908). He was born in poor and grew up in Georgia, where he heard the dialect tales told by black slaves. Also as depicted in his biography, Harris’ father deserted his mother just before he was born. You may find the story of the pigs roots in his childhood and the African-American slavery in late nineteen century. In the story, the old sow was a widow-woman and she had five female children with their African tainted names of big, little, speckled, blunt, and runt. We may imagine the males were taken away to serve the master as slaves and only women and children were left home with little protection. The wolf might be symbolized as the white colonizer. In addition, the little pigs used brush, stick, mud, plank and rock to build their houses, which were the most abundant material in Africa. Same as the food mentioned in the folktale, such as ears, peas and corns.

Three little goslings (Italy) fairytale was accomplished by Thomas Frederick Crane (1844 – 1927). He was remembered as an American folklorist and was particularly noted for his collection of Italian Popular Tales. The Italian culture was throughout the whole story. Specifically, iron was used to build the house indicating the industry revolution in Italy in late nineteenth century. Further, the houses they built were more architecturally “luxury” with balconies, kitchen and gardens, which implies the reflection of Italian Art Renaissance, especially in Architectural aspect. The food Macaroni that was made of butter, cheese and flour, is also a typical Italian cuisine.

Now, let us see the England version, which was written by Joseph Jacobs (1854-1916), sourcing from English Fairy Tales (London: David Nutt, 1898). The story started with a poem. It has to be noted that in 19th century, England poetry was entering the Victorian era, a period of rapid expansion combined with increasing industrialization and mechanization. In this fairy tale, bricks were used to build a house and butter churn was invented, which are the result of industrialization. Furze was also mentioned, which is a unique plant introduced to England in 1864. Since then, furze had been cultivated in Surrey and other English countries as fuel for ovens.
Kind Hearts Are Gardens
Kind hearts are gardens, Kind thoughts are roots, Kind words are blossoms, Kind deeds are fruits.

This nursery rhyme tells one that having a kind heart is like the gardens. Inside the garden, the roots can absorb the nutrients and the blossoms can grow and finally generates the fruits. In other words, kind heart is the base. Someone with a kind heart, his/her thoughts will be kind. With kind thoughts, he/she then may probably speak kindly and behave kindly. The nursery rhyme teaches us that without a kind heart, you will not have the kind manner. Even you have, that will only be temporary and will not last long since it lacks of the base and the nutrients.

Little Girl, Little Girl
Little girl, little girl where have you been?Gathering roses to give to the Queen.Little girl, little girl what gave she you?She gave me a diamond as big as my shoe.
The nursery rhyme is telling us a story that a little girl received a big diamond after she gathered roses and gave to the Queen. From this nursery rhyme, we see the respect (the girl respected the Queen), we see the hard working (the girl gathered roses) and we also see the reward (as a return, the Queens rewarded the girl a big diamond). What we should learn from this story is that whoever wants to get rewarded must work hard and also work smart.



Sandor Lorand, one of Freud’s disciples, stated that a fairy tale could harm the mental life of the child that could inhibit future adjustment. He used a case study to demonstrate his theory. He also noted that fairy tales have constructive value to most of the children in that they can widen the child’s mental horizon. However, he did not deeply evaluate the significance of fairy tales to the normal child.
Bruno Bettelheim, instead, further studied the impact the fairy tales to a child. His main theory was that fairy tales could allow the children to expand their imaginations to balance or smooth their struggle with human existence. He concluded that fairy tales could serve the therapeutic and educational functions for the children to find the solutions to solve their own problems.
However, criticisms had risen of Bettelheim’s arguments. One of them from Robert Segal (1993), who argued that Bettelheim’s theory was not comprehensive in that he only focused on the fairy tales and minimized the effectiveness of myth due to his misinterpretation of one of Roheim’s works. He also alleged that Bettelheim’s analyses were outdated and self-righteous because Segal argued that this analyses was poorly founded.
Among the above mentioned three theorists, Bettleheim’s analyses, to my point of view, is profound since he was the first person started a deep study of the impact of fairy tales to the children. Although many scholars questioned his theories, argued of his incomprehensive, he initiated the study and he found the value of fairy tales to the children, which motives the adults to pay attention on tales and to utilize the fairy tales to educate and cure the children’s confusion or some other metal problems.

A deeper Relevance

In the African American Tale of the Little Pigs we see a widowed sow and her five children. Not knowing the time in which this fairy tale came into being, I assume the fairy tale to portray times in which slavery existed, thus depicting the sow to be widowed possibly because her husband was taken away to work for a master. Also, all the little pigs were female possibly meaning that all the males were away at work. It is evident that the sow was preparing her children for the future, which comprised of harmful beings and wanted them to be able to fend for themselves.

The Italian version of the tale consisted of goslings. We see the same plot of the hungry and conniving wolf out to eat the geese, but with a cultural tinge to it. The goslings when building their homes looked for comfort with balconies that overlooked the surrounding meadow much like villas in Italy. The food of choice used by the wolf to dupe the goslings was macaroni, butter and cheese, whose origins date back to Italy.

In the English version of the Little Pigs we see a poetic fairy tale. England has long been known for its poets, some of whom are known the world over; and the industrial revolution. The Three pigs in this tale were sent out to fend for themselves because their mother was too poor to provide for all of them. This tale make the reader perceive a suburban setting where poverty looms and a mother’s only hope is to send her children to the city where they can fend for themselves. One also notices the presence of fairs where the little pig bought a butter churn. Fairs still take place in England, at these fairs people buy various things ranging from food to house hold items while enjoying poetry and music.

2)

London Bridge is falling down,
Falling down, falling down,
London Bridge is falling down,
My fair Lady.

This Nursery Rhyme is about the various ways in which the London Bridge had to be rebuilt after being destroyed by either war or natural disasters. The London Bridge is the oldest bridge over the river Thames and played a major role in trade. The nursery rhyme describes the various ways in which the bridge was rebuilt ever since it first fell during the roman rule when it was built from wood and clay. The nursery rhyme mentions the bridge being built from silver and gold, this is not true but it could, however signify the trade of these precious metals that took place on the bridge. The lesson to be learnt from this is that we always learn from our mistakes, and we innovate to restrict them from happening again.

Jack be nimble
Jack be quick
Jack jump over
The candlestick.

The roots of this nursery rhyme are not known for sure, but most agree that it was about a pirate jack. Jack according to the nursery rhyme seems to be a smart and quick footed lad who manages to evade guards in his escape. Jack jumping over the candlestick here refers to candle stick jumping which used to be a sport in England. Thus, the lesson to be learnt from this nursery rhyme is that one has to be quick and nimble in order to escape, if not you will get burnt or in lay mans terms ‘caught.’

3) According to Freudian theory our personalities consist of three distinct components Id, Ego and Superego. Id is the most primal level of our personalities (e.g. hunger, thirst). Ego is the component that acts as a referee between the Id and the Superego. Superego is the internal representation of values gained by the rewards and punishments administered by parents. Freud never spent much time understanding the effects of fairytales on his patients. But, he felt that dreams and fairytales have a common function. This function being the fulfillment of wishes, most people repress sad or depressing moments in their life with tales, making that point in their lives seem happier. This is almost like a dream in which the latent content exists as repressed emotions, anger and attitudes. Erich Fromm a distinguished personality theorist accepts the fact that dreams and fairytales share a common ground, yet he disagrees with the Freudian theories. According to him, each of us has a symbolic language through which our inner feelings and thoughts are expressed as if it were in the real world. It is through this symbolic language that we understand fairytales and dreams and it is the only universal language humans have developed. Alan Dundes on the other hand does not confine himself completely to Freudianism. He feels that dreams are a result of fairy tales. To him the explicit symbolic language and equations that have found their way into fairytales give rise to dreams and it is this symbolism that requires serious study. From these three psychoanalysts I feel I find more relevance in the Freudian theory. It is through our dream that we express our repressed emotions and anger and this latent content is merely balanced by manifest content so as to give meaning to the dream and keep the dreamer from awakening. Thus fairy tales are like dreams only in the real world helping children solve conflicts in thought and gain value for things through symbolism.

Fairy Tales w/ Pigs

1. Each of these three stories are tainted by their respective cultures and consequently differ greatly from the next. The first of the trio is a five little pigs story of African descent. African roots are shown here initially in the names of the little piglets. The names, big, little, speckled, blunt, and runt, are descriptive and in that sense “tribal” and consistent with old-fashioned African naming. The next version, of Italian descent, had Italian qualities incorporated into the story such as the more elaborate furnishings of the homes. The houses of the goslings were described more proudly and made to be perceived as more artful such that they had balconies and were built in meadows. Another Italian element of the story was in the integration of pasta at the climax of the tale. Macaroni was the tool used by the third goose to entice the wolf to his demise. This insinuates to an extent the irresistibility of the cuisine of pasta, one of the prides and stereotypically staple foods of Italians. The last but not least version of the story, the English version, contained English elements such as the fair where the piglet and the wolf had planned to meet as well as the churn, a machine that is common to England for butter.

2. Itsy Bitsy spider climbing up the spout
Down came the rain and washed the spider out
Out came the sun and dried up all the rain
Now Itsy Bitsy spider went up the spout again!

This rhyme, “Itsy Bitsy Spider” has unknown roots and origins but serves as an aid for the coordination of hand-eye movements along with singing the song. The rhyme itself does not appear to intent any real moral except possibly the lesson of persistence. Although the spider is persistent, the rhyme does not tell you if such persistence resulted in rewards or not.

This little piggy went to market,
This little piggy stayed at home,
This little piggy had roast beef,
This little piggy had none.
And this little piggy went...
"Wee wee wee" all the way home...

Another common childhood rhyme is “This Little Piggy”. In the beginning of the poem, the child counts his fingers or toes for each line of the poem and the poem is finished with the cheerful aspect of the child being ticked for the last line. This rhyme is dated back to 1728.

3. Freud is one such psychoanalyst who reflected on the influence of fairy tales. He believed that fairytales impact the childhoods of many people by “serving as wish fulfillments”. Freud believes that repressed memories may be replaced with happy stories from fairy tales. Another such theorist is Sandor Lorand, who feels that fairy tales have important instructing properties for developing young minds. To Lorand, fairy tales allows a child to explore new concepts, furthers social contact through a common universal tale, and enables a child to resolve difficulties with his or her parents. A final psychoanalyst is Alan Dundes who’s position on fairy tales is that they are the basis for dreams. Dundes believes that the symbolism formula for dreams can be derived from the symbolism in fairy tales.

The Deeper Meaning

1)
When reading the three different versions of “The Three Little Pigs”, the cultural differences in the African- American, Italian and English versions stand out and clearly reflect the culture of their origin. In the African-American version, much slang is used to narrate the story. When describing the pig mother dying they describe it as “kicking the bucket” They refer to the old sow as “Ma” Also, the main difference in the story is that there are five little pigs instead of three. There are Big pig, Little Pig, Speckled Pig, Blunt and Runt pig. Runt being the “lonesome” neglected pig, she ends up being the heroine by being the only pig to stand up to Brer Wolf’s trickery. Instead of physically blowing or knocking the house down, the Brer wolf uses his smooth talking to enter the pigs homes and eat them. The language used and the size of the pig family may reflect the African-American culture when this story was told.

In the Italian version, goslings replace the pigs. There is no mother gosling in the story and the three goslings are assumed to fend for themselves. They acquire materials for their houses from good Samaritans and begin to build. The mention of eating Macaroni and cheese is an Italian cultural reference because it was and still is associated with the staple diet of many Italians. Also, this version deals more with the virtue of loyalty and forgiveness. Because the goslings tricked one another, they were subjected to being gobbled up by the Wolf. The gosling left on its own kills the wolf and forgives its siblings and they live happily together.

The English version is the most widely known version in America. There are many elements in this version that are seen in many English folktales. They begin with “Once Upon A Time” and many of the lines are repeated and rhyme, almost like a poem. There is an identical exchange in dialogue between all three pigs and the wolf where he begins by saying “Little pig, little pig let me come in” and they respond with “Not by the hair of my chiny chin chin” he grows angry and proclaims, “then I’ll huff and I’ll puff and I’ll blow your house in” Most of us familiar with folktales can recite these lines by heart due to the rhyming and repetitive nature of the story. That may also be the reason this version is so widely recognized.

2)

John Jacob Jingleheimer Schmidt

John Jacob Jingleheimer Schmidt,
His name is my name too.

Whenever we go out,
The people always shout,
There goes John Jacob Jingleheimer Schmidt.

Dah dah dah dah, dah dah dah

I chose John Jacob Jingleheimer Schmidt because it is a short song that I grew up singing. When my friends and I were younger, we would sing this song repeatedly to annoy each other or help pass the time on long field trips. I always imagined it to be about a jolly fellow who was known and loved by his whole village because of his amiable nature.

This poem is actually relating to the surge of German immigrants in America. The name Jingleheimer is suppose to reflect a stereotypical German last name, and the line “his name is my name too” is poking fun of the large German population whom shared last names which were lengthy and difficult to pronounce in American standards. Considering its real meaning, this song promotes bigotry and doesn’t share a valuable life lesson or promote good moral values. But regardless of its true implication, we can all still enjoy this little song for its catchy tune.

Ring around the rosy
AKA as Ring a ring o' rosies

Ring around the rosy
A pocketful of posies
"Ashes, Ashes"
We all fall down!

Ring-a-Ring o'Rosies
A Pocket full of Posies
"A-tishoo! A-tishoo!"
We all fall Down!

This nursery rhyme can be traced back to the childhood of most. Children would link hands in a circle and spin around while chanting these two verses. It would end with everybody in fits of laughter on the floor. However, the true implications of this short rhyme are not as blissful. The poem actually refers to the bubonic plague that infected a large population of 14th century England. “Rings around the rosy” describe the rash that formed as a symptom of the plague. “Posies” were sacks of herbs carried around that were believed to ward off the disease and “Ashes, Ashes” can either be referred to as the cremation of the infected bodies or the violent sneezing, another symptom of the black plague. Finally, the last line “We all fall down!” basically implies that the diseased all fell down, dead.

When I first found out when this nursery rhyme meant, I was shocked that such a joyous little dance was actually describing such a somber time in history. It is strange that this rhyme has carried over after so many years and practiced by happy elementary school children.

3)

Analyst Melissa Krukjian discusses the positives of the Disney adaptation of the Cinderella Story. Many people criticize the animation for twisting the original stories told by Perrault and the Grimms solely for marketing purposes. Ms. Krukjian explains why she feels that the Disney version has been perfectly adapted for its main audience, children. Created in the 1950’s it reflects the social norms of the time which emphasizes the strength of the male characters and appeals to the American need for happy endings. In the Disney version, there is no violence and there are clearly defined good and bad guys. In the end, the good guys are rewarded and the bad guys are punished. This is very clear to the children watching the movie and is an example of why fairy tales are told to children. In order to instill values of right and wrong in young people, entertainment must also ensue.

Sandeep Nandi takes a psychoanalytical approach on why fairytales can help children coping with psychological issues. Mr. Nandi feels that these stories can help people connect with their inner conflict because they can see themselves in the characters presented in these fairytales. In terms of young children, their trauma is often suppressed or they have difficulty identifying the source of their troubles. Fairytales are a good medium of understanding their behavior because their characters are clearly defined as good or bad, reflecting the child’s positive image versus their negative inner feelings. When children can identify who they most relate to in a fairytale, analysts have an easier time helping them and finding out the roots of their conflicts.

Philip Klein does an analysis of fairytales in the classroom and reports what he has learned from his interaction with the children and the teacher. He speaks to Mary Gore, the librarian who sees fairy tales as a great way of educating young minds. She believes that the simplicity of fairytales makes it easy for children to understand and enjoy and “helps to foster creativity and imagination”

I find the psychoanalytic approach to be most relevant because I believe that the fairytales you enjoy most can reflect your personal desires and ideas and can really shape young minds. Children can relate to the hero’s or villains in the story and learn the consequences associated with right or wrong. Fairytales provide children with lifelong lessons while entertaining them at the same time.

The Story of the Pigs (International Versions)

1. The “Three Little Pigs” is a well-known story that has good morals from the message. Many countries adapt the story with various versions. In this case, we have to observe the story in three different ways which are in African-American, Italy, and England point of view. In African-American viewpoint we can see many elements which affect the meaning of the story. In this story, the pigs were defined by their appearance such as, Big, Little, Blunt, Speckled, and Runt. The fortunate one who successfully escaped from the Brer Wolf is Runt (which by definition means “the unusually small” one). Furthermore, we can also see the different by the number of the pigs. In the original story, it’s only the adventure of three little pigs. However, in the African-American version there are five pigs take place in the story. This family size affects the story simply because there are additions to the plot of the story. There are additions such as the type of foundation to build the house and also the addition of dialogues. In the story, Big Pig built house with brush, Little Pig with sticks, Speckled Pig with mud, Blunt Pig with Plank, and last Runt with rock. These natural resources are very common and easily find in Africa. As we all know, Africa is the world’s second largest continent and have mostly tropical climate. Africa has dense jungle region which provide the resources for the pigs in the story to build their houses. Moreover, in African-American version the wolf ate all the four pigs except the littlest one because she built her house from rocks and protect herself from the danger (fire straws to burn the wolf). Quite different than the African-American version, the Italy version use Goslings as the main character. As I did my research I found that poultry plays important role in Italy’s food market. Perhaps this is why the author uses goslings instead of pigs for the main character. In addition, in the story, the goslings were being help by a craft man who provide the goslings the sources to build their houses. This shows that Italy is the home of creative people such as artists, musicians, poets, etc. From the ancient ages, Italy (Europe in general) has created many artistic achievements. Furthermore, England version has similarity with the Italy version. The author also uses “craft man” to help the main character to build their house. Later in the story, the little pig uses churn to hide from the wolf. By definition, churn is a machine to make butter, and the use of the device shows that England is the home of inventor. I found from my research that England is the birthplace of Industrial Revolution (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/England). There are many inventors from England and perhaps this is why the author use machine element in the story.

2. Adults often teach young children in Nursery Rhyme in form of song or poem. Nursery rhyme exists for many centuries and passed down from generations to generations. Children can learn vocabulary and counting from this rhyme. There are various nursery rhymes with different origins. The two nursery rhymes that strike me the most are “Ring around the rosy” and “Pat a cake Pat a cake”.
“Ring around the rosy” has two versions which are American and English version. In English history, the rhyme is referring to the Great Plaque of London in 17th centuries. In the website it says that, “The symptoms of the plague included a rosy red rash in the shape of a ring on the skin (Ring around the rosy).” In addition, the “Ashes” term referring to the burial of the dead bodies. The rhyme “Pat a cake Pat a cake” somehow have time connection with “Ring around the rosy”. The Great fire of London in 1966 connects both rhymes. In “Ring around the rosy”, The Great Fire helped terminate the rats which are the cause of the Great Plaque. In “Pat a cake Pat a cake”, The Great fire of London started in a baker’s shop. From then on Bakeries were viewed as fire risks. Moreover, the tradition of “Pat a cake” rhyme still affecting in today’s world sometimes accompany by the movement of clapping hands. People also still practicing the tradition of writing a name on a cake (“Pat it and prick it and mark it with a 'B'”).

R h y m e    T i m e

 

 

I do not think I speak for myself only, when I say it is much easier to recognize elements of a culture when you are a part of it.  I say this to say that although I see culture related differencs in each story, they seem more obvious to me in the African American version of the story (I am curious to know who it was written by).

In the Italian version, first off, there were no pigs.  It was the story of the three goslings (young geese).  The words in the dialogues are often repeated for example “yes, yes, yes,” used over and over again, or “take it, take it!” or even “go away, go away!”  Many exclaimations (!) are also used in converstaion.  These two things suggest the strong and proud voice of italian people regardless of the role they play- victim or villian.  There is also a certain amount of selflessness that I see here. All the building material was given willingly, as a matter of fact, in the case of the last gosling, her entire house, garden and all, was built for her.  The goslings houses were also built with balconies which adds to the style/fashion that Italians are known for – mind you, the baclony in one home, was used as an access point to collect food from the wolf.  Is there even a need for me to speak on the food?  The food here is pasta, an all time favorite in Itlay – so delicious the thought of having some is what caused the wolf to be killed.  There is one other, and perhaps, the most important element of culture, and it does change the story here, it is “loyalty to family.”  The author does three key things to show how important family is.  First there is the necessary evil (to prove the point); family members trick and decieve each other.  Second, the author brings these two family members back to life (through the “Godfather” style killing of the wolf), and lastly we see these family members fully forgiven and welcome into the home of the one they deceived.  Family Loyalty!

The Enligh version is the one I heard growing up in Trinidad.  The language is very different from the other two.   It is almost poetic (with many rhymes) and pleasurable to read.  There is something very proper about this story, the places, and the dialogue (even when it is the wolf speaking).  For example phrases such as “Oh, in Mr. Smith’s home field...” or “... a fair at Shanklin...” point to specific locations.  And in the dialogue between wolf and pig there is politeness and respect.  Most attention was placed on the surviving pig who seemed to be able to always outwit the wolf especially at the most critical moments.  We also see reference to some things that are very “English,” for example, “fields of turnips,” apple trees, gardens, fairs, “butter churn,” etc.  Another thing I noticed was, that the wolf was seen as a meal.  What does this represent?  Equal opportunity?  This story cleary shows that at the end of the day, regardless of who ate, or who was eaten, it was not personal.  It was obviously just “business as usual!”

                                                                                                                                                                                       

I get the impression that this wolf represents the black oppressor.  He is described as “a mighty deceitful man” who talked “mighty soft” and “mighty sweet.” It is                                                                                                                                              also said that if they could stay away from “him,” they stand a chance to do “monstrously well.”  If I am not mistaken those are the types of statements made with reference to “the white man” in the old south.  What drove the point home for me was the last two sentences.  “And that was the last of old Brer Wolf.”  At least it was the last of that Brer Wolf.  This says to me, that life for the “Black man” is going to continue to be a struggle with many “wolfs” in the path of survival! 

 

One of my favorite nursey rhymes/poems as child growing up was Humpty Dumpty.

Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall,

Humpty Dumpty had a great fall

All the Kings horses and all the Kings men

Couldn’t put Humpty back together again.

 

I was hurt to learn that this poem was in fact about a large cannon that was mounted on a wall and used during the English civil war.  According to www.rhymes.org this cannon was shot down and because of it’s size and weight and it was never able to be put back in place.  This lead to the royalist being defeated by the parliamentarians.  And to think up until today, I actullly thought Humpty Dumpty was an egg that fell and broke.  The lesson I learned was don’t judge and egg by it’s shell.

Another nursery rhyme I was fond of growing up was, “Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star.”  This rhyme, I loved almost as much as the stars as they described.  I was always fascinated by the stars they described because they were so beautiful, yet, so difficult to understand, farless explain.  The nursey rhyme speaks about the beauty and significance of the stars.

 

Bruno Bettelheim, believes that through fairy tails children are allowed to grow mentally understanding that the struggles they enoucnter in life is part of that growth process, and s/he who endures is able to overcome.  According to Bettelheim, all kids stand to benefit from fairy tales because they are able to align these stories with their “inner conflicts” or “inner problems,” helping them to solves, understand and/or accept what is happening in their lives at that moment.

Shapiro and Katz argue that fairy tales are given way too much credit and are really less constructive than Bettleheim paints them to be.  They further argue that, the ending of these stories often leave kids confused and giving them the wrong message, for example a child might be left thinking “killing,” as opposed to “ignoring,” is the way to get rid of a bad “person”, “situation “ , “feeling” etc.

Sigmound Frued (whom I have always found to be a                                                           bit extreme) believes that fairy tales have a great influence on the mental life of children.  He claims to have found cases where children (patients) have “replaced, repressed memories of childhood with “safe” memories of fairy sotries.”  Of course Freud found a way to relate fairy tales to dreams, as he said, he believed they both served some of the same functions.

What do I think? Well I think it would be difficult for me to be honest and choose any one stance.  The truth is I think the anaylsts I mentioned “here” all make legitmate points, and they all may be true for different types of children.  I also believe many other factors about the child in question would be relevant in determining the effect of a fairy tale (or fairy tales in general) on him or her.  Examples of factors are upbringing, class, culture and religion to name a few.  As for me personally, if I had to answer the question “how did fairy tales affect or contribute to my life?”  My answer would be, I am not sure, I remember them all, but I also remember all the books, TV shows, games I played and friends I had as a little kid.  Would it be fair to assume that if there is a motive behind telling children fairy tales or if children are affected as much by them as is claimed, then the same can be said of the movies, the games, the different types of toys, the friends etc., that they are surrounded by.