Happy Endings in Childrens Literature - Hope, Dreams, Maturity, and Gender - Essay Example

Happy Endings in Children’s Literature: Hope, Dreams, Maturity, and Gender 17 March Happy Endings in Children’s Literature: Hope, Dreams, Maturity, and Gender Many stories that are written for children usually end with a happy ending, although the definition of a happy ending can radically differ for every child (as well as adult) across diverse societies. Endings can differ in meaning, when readers consider the two levels of closure too. Nikolajeva (2005) differentiates structural closure, which serves to roundup the ending of the story, and psychological closure, which allows the protagonists to resolve their inner conflicts (102). Children’s stories have numerous kinds of closures, where some of them are happy, while others are somewhat happy, especially when a happy ending can be interpreted using subjective and cultural roots. To what extent is children’s literature preoccupied with the need for a happy ending? This paper uses a mixture of novels and fairy tales to explore the answer to this question. Children’s literature is preoccupied with the need for a happy ending, depending on the context of its production, where the writing’s time and place can impact the purposes of the authors in writing them. Happy endings can be seen as desiring to be instructive in teaching morality and civilised behaviours, motivating children to dream and to hope, and inspiring them to meet conventional/non-conventional goals. Happy endings can serve moralistic purposes, where writers aim to teach the difference between good and bad to children, so that they can be moral citizens of their communities. Some stories explicitly or implicitly aim to instruct moral values to children. In an adaptation of “Goldilocks and the Three Bears,” Deverell (2001) tells the story of a naughty girl through a punitive plot and moralistic tone. She clearly describes Goldilocks’ bad manners: “She was not a good, polite little girl...” Because of her bad manners, when she sees that no one is in the bear’s house (she is not aware that it belongs to a family of bears), “...she peered through the windows and peeped through the keyhole,” opening the door uninvited (Deverell, 2001: 4). Goldilocks becomes a poster child of “no-no’s” for children. It is a tale that informs children that it is bad to go into strangers’ houses without any proper invitation and to impose on them by eating their food and using their possessions. It is not a full happy ending because Goldilocks runs away frightened. But the happy ending is in her transformation. Though no longer narrated in Deverell’s 2001 version, it is assumed that the experience of seeing three bears scares Goldilocks enough for her to mend her ways. She is supposed to learn the lesson that to be disrespectful of other people’s homes and properties is a grave mistake, sometimes even fatally so. If children who hear the story become less naughty, then, it has served its purpose, where the happy ending is in the promotion of positive values and attitudes among children. Other good attitudes that children’s literature want to promote are courage and perseverance, where using them both can lead to a happy ending. Jacobs (1890) offers a version of “Jack and the Beanstalk,” where Jack is a poor lad whose only wealth is a cow that cannot produce milk anymore. Jack has shown perseverance in how he walked and walked until he reached the ogre’s house: “So he walked along, and he walked along, and he walked along till he came to a great big tall house, and on the doorstep there was a great big tall woman” (Jacobs, 1890). Perseverance pays, actually in terms of gold, a gold-laying hen, and a magical harp. These are tangible rewards for a determined spirit. Furthermore, the story teaches courage. Jack does not only climb up the beanstalk once, but thrice. He is not afraid to take risks, if it means getting what he wants. The immorality of stealing is overlooked, and instead, the value of courage, amidst enormous (pun intended) challenges, is highlighted. “Jack and the Beanstalk” describes a fantastic tale about a boy who is not afraid to lose anything, if it means he can gain everything he has ever dreamt of. The happy ending is based on an individual’s sheer effort, so that he can be wealthier and happier. The luck continues to spill on Jack because he even marries a princess. The story goes: “Then Jack showed his mother his golden harp, and what with showing that and selling the golden eggs, Jack and his mother became very rich, and he married a great princess, and they lived happy ever after” (Jacobs, 1890). During this time, marriage is one of the aspirations of people, and for the poor, a happy ending mostly includes marrying upward, or into the upper class. Happy ending rewards and promotes courage and perseverance. Another story that tells about the rewards of good attitudes and behaviours is “Little Red Riding Hood,” where the happy ending is related to obedience. Brothers Grimm’s (1812a) “Little Red Riding Hood” was not originally designed for children, although they appreciated it when they learned that children also read their stories (Shavit, 1986: 21). After learning that they captivated a younger audience, they modified their first edition to fit the language level and realities of children. Shavit (1986: xi) studies the nature of children’s literature in Poetics of Childrens Literature because he believes in the universal themes and patterns that traverse all children’s narratives. He describes the goals of the Grimm Brothers in their children-oriented edition, where “this new concept of childhood is expressed in the following three aspects: the relations in the family circle, the innocence of the child, and the need for instruction of the child” (Shavit, 1986: 22). The edited tales express new ideas about children, where adults have the primary responsibility of educating the youth. Children’s literature can have happy endings when they want to connect positive values and actions to happy endings, as if the latter has a reinforcing effect on the former. Punishment and realisation of the full extent of reality are some of the lessons that nineteenth-century societies want to inculcate in children. Grimm’s (1812a) version of “Little Red Riding Hood” focuses on the naiveté of Little Red Riding Head, so the story is told from her perspective. After nearly dying from being eaten by the wolf, “Little Red Riding Hood thought to herself: ‘Never again will I stray by myself into the forest when my mother has forbidden it’” (Grimm and Grimm, 1812a). The lesson is that when children do not listen and obey adults, or people with authority, they will meet their doom. To follow is good; to disobey is bad. The same happens with Goldilocks. Because of her naughtiness and lack of self-control, the three bears scare her off. She loses her peace of mind, most likely, and the lesson to children is that when they are bad, they will get punished. At the same time, the children are exposed to realities of danger and death. Charles Perrault’s 1697 version of “Little Red Riding Hood” does not end the same way as the Grimm’s account of it. In his story, the ending is grim: “‘Grandmamma, what great teeth you have got!’ ‘It is to eat thee up.’ And upon saying these words, this wicked Wolfe fell upon the little Red Riding-Hood, and eat her up” (Perrault, 1697). The ending is not exactly happy, but it does make adults happy to learn that their children will understand that following the former is much better than dying a brutal death. For adults, they want their children to be fully aware that life is full of bad people, and anyone of these wicked people can kill or hurt the latter. These stories highlight the difference between good and bad behaviours and attitudes that adults want to teach to children. Their endings are supposed to show children that bad attitudes are punished, and happy endings happen only to good people. Morality includes gender norms and expectations too, where the happy ending seeks to reinforce the latter by rewarding girls/women with “happy” lives. Grimm’s “Little Snow White” depicts an obedient and submissive girl. Snow White becomes the “woman of the house” in the residence of the seven dwarfs. The dwarfs tell her: “If you will take care of our house, cook for us, and make the beds, wash, mend, and knit, and keep everything neat and clean, then you may stay with us altogether and you shall want for nothing” (Grimm and Grimm, 1812b). Snow White is the typical woman who answers: “With all my heart” (Grimm and Grimm, 1812b). The happy ending of being loved back in the form of the dwarves and the prince is connected with the idea of women loving their feminine roles and responsibilities. Furthermore, Snow White is rewarded with life and beauty because of her conformity with gender norms. The mirror tells the queen that Snow White is still alive: “O Lady Queen, though fair ye be, Snow-White is fairer far to see. Over the hills and far away, She dwells with seven dwarfs to-day” (Grimm and Grimm, 1812b). She is alive because she allows herself to be a slave to the dwarves. She cannot even leave the house and she cannot have new friends: “All day long Snow-White was alone, and the good little dwarfs warned her to be careful to let no one into the house. ‘For,’ said they, ‘your step-mother will soon discover that you are living here’” (Grimm and Grimm, 1812b). Snow White becomes a slave to her “home,” but at least, she gets free housing, free food, and a relatively secure life from her stepmother. The story, nevertheless, shows that Snow White can be so stubborn and disobedient, and this almost kills her. The apple ends her life, but the happy ending indicates that all is not lost if someone will save the stupid girl. Another point then of the happy ending is to teach girls to be prepared of marriage someday, and they will get the marriage they desire, if they follow gender norms. They will be rewarded if they stay chaste and obedient, as Snow White has been (to some extent, she was obedient). A prince finds her and falls in love with her beauty, and when she wakes up, “Then he told her all that had happened, and how he loved her better than the whole world, and begged her to go with him to his fathers palace and be his wife” (Grimm and Grimm, 1812b). How often does a girl meet a handsome, wealthy prince who helplessly falls in love with her? Chances are very low, but the story emphasises that good girls get the best marriages, even if that is not entirely true in real life. The image of a happy wedding is part of the happy ending. It reminds women of their next stages in life, where they transition from an obedient daughter to an obedient wife: “Snow-White consented, and went with him, and the wedding was celebrated with great splendour and magnificence” (Grimm and Grimm, 1812b). Snow White gets the reward of a magnificent marriage because of her loyal servitude to the dwarves- a traditional society’s version of a happy ending. Aside from inculcation of morality, dreaming and hoping can have its escapist appeal. Fictional stories, for instance, can bring children to magical lands, where they can meet fantastic characters enmeshed in incredible plots of magic and out-of-this-world’s experiences. “Jack and the Beanstalk” is a dream come true for many poor children. It talks about something so impossible, but the happy ending allows people to suspend reality and to believe in its possibility: “Then Jack showed his mother his golden harp, and what with showing that and selling the golden eggs, Jack and his mother became very rich, and he married a great princess, and they lived happy ever after” (Jacobs, 1890). Jack earns everything a man desires: wealth, social status, a peaceful family life, and marriage to a beautiful princess. Someone who is poor can find the escapist appeal of this story quite significant, so that they can continue moving on with their lives with less strife and stress. Furthermore, aside from merely being distracted for the purposes of escaping the dreariness of real life, a happy ending is supposed to help children hope and dream for something better. Jack’s mother does not appreciate her son’s wishful thinking yet: "What!" says Jacks mother. "Have you been such a fool, such a dolt, such an idiot, as to give away my Milky-White, the best milker in the parish, and prime beef to boot, for a set of paltry beans? Take that! Take that! Take that! And as for your precious beans here they go out of the window. And now off with you to bed. Not a sup shall you drink, and not a bit shall you swallow this very night. (Jacobs, 1890). She is a practical woman and she beats up her son for being dreamy. But the story says that dreamy is alright, more like perfectly alright, because Jack’s ignorance will yield material fruits. His ability to dream becomes his ticket to wealth and power. Poor children need something to motivate them in life, or else they may become dregs of society, and the story of Jack makes them think that anything is possible. Another story that breeds hope and dreams is J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone gives hope to a child who has lost everything. Harry Potter is the typical bullied scrawny kid, who finds respite in his real identity. His rise to greatness can inspire children to never stop hoping and dreaming for better things in life. This book has a happy ending, where Potter thinks he can scare Dudley enough to stop his bullying. The ending suggests that happy endings are empowering too because they help children dream of something better, where positive thoughts breed positive actions and values. One of the “proper” attitudes that happy endings propose is having good social skills, according to social norms. Interpersonal skill is an important ability for many societies, and it is something to be developed during childhood. In the essay “Exploring Otherness: Changes in the Child-Animal Metamorphosis Motif,” Lassén-Seger (2004) explores a number of metamorphosis tales in children’s literature. She stresses the “socialising content” of children’s stories. Friendship represents an important theme in children’s literature, which can be found in Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone. Harry would have had a more miserable life without meeting and making new friends. Hermione, Ron, Neville, and Hagrid are significant characters who helped him become a happier and more sociable kid. For instance, in trying to get the Sorcerer’s stone, Harry thinks he is all alone, but his newfound friends correct him. Hermione says: “How do you think you’d get to the Stone without us?” (Rowling, 1997: 271). From being a loner, Harry has made friends, and now, he is never alone in life. The happy ending of this book relates friendship and interpersonal skills with personal and group happiness. One more story about friendship is Grimm’s (1812b) “Little Snow White.” Snow White makes friends with seven dwarves, who in turn, provide for her. They saved her many times because they love her: “They lifted her tenderly and sought for some poisonous object which might have caused the mischief...but all in vain-dead she was and dead she remained” (Grimm and Grimm, 1812b). They are not easily defeated, until they realise that she is finally dead. Their hearts are inconsolable afterwards: “They laid her upon a bier, and all seven of them sat round about it, and wept as though their hearts would break, for three whole days” (Grimm and Grimm, 1812b). True friends cannot bear living without one another. The happy ending of the story is about finding lasting friendships, which is based on good social skills. Another important attitude that happy endings can lead to is preparation for maturity. Lassén-Seger (2004) quotes Reynolds (1994:44) who says that the: “refusal to grow up is no longer a dominant motif in juvenile fiction but has been replaced by writing which is specifically preoccupied with facilitating the maturing process” (Lassén-Seger, 2004: 41). Lassén-Seger (2004) notes that a number of modern children’s stories no longer tackle the Peter Pan syndrome of resisting growing up and accepting mature roles and responsibilities, because some authors want to help children deal with the reality of growing up. Children’s literature also wants to facilitate children’s growth as adolescents and adults. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone prepares Harry for his first challenge in life- meeting and beating the sorcerer who killed his parents, and who tried to kill him too. The story is a rite of passage to adolescence. Harry becomes stronger physically, mentally, and emotionally because of the problems he faced. The happy ending of being finished with his first year in school and being able to survive another Voldemort interaction signifies that children who grow up will be rewarded with a healthier and happier sense of selfhood. One more story about maturity is “Jack and the Beanstalk.” Jack is an immature lad who does not consider the consequences of his actions. He knows that his family will die of hunger, but he still sells his cow for some beans. Jack changes along the way because he feels more responsible for the security of his family: “So they lived on the bag of gold for some time, but at last they came to the end of it, and Jack made up his mind to try his luck once more at the top of the beanstalk” (Jacobs, 1890). He takes charge of his life and owns the responsibility for his family. The happy endings of these stories indicate that protagonists’ personalities develop and change for the better, where they leave their childhood behind to some extent so that they can grow up and become more mature individuals. Happy endings can be used to motivate people to reach traditional goals in life. “Jack and the Beanstalk” seeks for economic security, which Jack eventually achieves because he takes risks and becomes accountable for his family. The journey up the beanstalk represents the journey to one’s dreams: The beanstalk grew up quite close past Jacks window, so all he had to do was to open it and give a jump onto the beanstalk which ran up just like a big ladder. So Jack climbed, and he climbed, and he climbed, and he climbed, and he climbed, and he climbed, and he climbed till at last he reached the sky. And when he got there he found a long broad road going as straight as a dart. (Jacobs, 1890). He literally climbs to his dreams, so that he can give himself and his mother a better life. Because of his desire to achieve his dreams, he becomes rich and happy in the end. Other traditional goals are having a happy family and a good home. Deverell (2001) narrates the goals of family life in “Goldilocks and the Three Bears.” The three bears have a simple life together, and they seem quite happy and satisfied with their life until Goldilocks comes along. With Goldilocks out of their hair, they have attained a happy ending, where strangers will no longer drop by unexpectedly and abuse their open house. These are some of the traditional goals in life that happy endings promote. Retribution and punishment of evil are traditional goals too that happy endings demonstrate. Goldilocks is punished because she is a naughty girl. She gets the scare of life, when she becomes aware of bears in the woods. Her ending teaches children to be respectful of others, or else, they will meet a scary punishment. Snow White’s stepmother is a murderer, four times over. First is when she ordered a hunter to kill her; second, when she used a lace; third, when she used a poisoned comb; and fourth, when she made a poisoned apple. Because of her evil, the punishment is death: “Then a pair of red-hot iron shoes was brought into the room with tongs and set before her, and these she was forced to put on and to dance in them until she could dance no longer, but fell down dead, and that was the end of her” (Grimm and Grimm, 1812b). Dancing is an ironic punishment because it normally means dancing for happiness. This time, dancing becomes a way of punishment because her death will be a celebration of dancing to all. Retribution is part of happy endings, where the good kills those who are evil. The same is seen in “Little Red Riding Hood.” The hunter wants to kill the wolf for a long time, until the opportunity to kill it presents itself. He finds the wolf and he devises means to kill him: So now Little Red Riding Hood brought some big heavy stones with which they filled the wolf’s body, and when he woke, he tried to jump up, but the stones were so heavy he fell down dead. So all three were pleased. The hunter skinned the wolf. The grandmother ate the cake and drank the wine that Little Red Riding Hood had brought... (Grimm and Grimm, 1812b). The wolf is punished for its evil deeds, and the victims get retribution with the death of the wolf. Everyone is happy and they get the happy ending they want. Non-traditional goals are attained through happy endings too. In Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, Harry cannot get his parents back because no amount of magic can be used to resurrect loved ones. However painful being an orphan must be, Harry finds his liberation in knowing his true identity. As a minor, he stays under the Dursleys wing for a few more years. Nevertheless, he becomes free. His knowledge of his identity and capabilities allows him to attain autonomy and free will, at least to some extent. It is also a non-traditional goal to have actual power to have individual power. In real life, there are no Harry Potters with magical prowess, but there are many Harry Potters who are orphans and need love and friends to help them develop their identities. His story uses unconventional means to allow children to imagine the possibilities of growth. First, they must be free enough to dream, so that they can nurture hope for hoping. For children who are unhappy and feel helpless, Harry Potter’s happy ending gives them hope that someday, they can find their source of power and be free of their troubles in life. In “Happy Endings in a World of Misery: A Literary Convention between Social Constraints and Utopia In Childrens And Adult Literature,” Pape (1992) studies the world of happy endings. A happy ending is about “...restoring a kind of playful happy ending which the reader is free to construct for himself” (180). Happy endings allow children to reconstruct their identities in traditional and non-traditional ways. They grow from reading; they transform because they are learning from what they read. Happy endings are not the prerequisites of all children’s literature, but they serve didactic and liberating purposes. They instruct children on the relationship between social norms and mores and a happy life. They also prepare children for more mature roles and responsibilities in life. Aside from instructing the norms, happy endings help children escape reality and its miseries. But more than escaping, some stories aim to empower children by liberating them of their fears and insecurities. They seem to prod children to not just to dream and to hope, but to also work on these dreams. Happy endings can help children find themselves. If they see the world in a positive light, they can feel encouraged to face challenges and to resolve them. Persuasive happy endings help children see that if bad things happen, better things can take place too, and sometimes, they have to be better to get a better life. Reference List Deverell, C., 2001. ‘Goldilocks and the three bears.’ UK: Robert Frederick. Grimm, J. and Grimm, W., 1812a. ‘Little red riding hood.’ Beyond social realism (EN 3772): Some versions of Little Red Riding Hood. Grimm, J. and Grimm, W., 1812b. ‘Little Snow White.’ In: L.L. Weedon (Trans.), Grimms Fairy Tales. London: Ernest Nister, 1898, pp. 9-20. Available at: http://comminfo.rutgers.edu/professional-development/childlit/snowwhitetext.html [Accessed on 6 March 2013]. Jacobs, J., 1890. ‘Jack and the Beanstalk.’ Available at: http://www.pitt.edu/~dash/type0328jack.html [Accessed on 6 March 2013]. Lassén-Seger, M., 2004. Exploring otherness: changes in the child-animal metamorphosis motif. In: T. Van Der Walt, F. Fairer-Wessels, and Judith Inggs (Eds.), Change and renewal in childrens literature. Connecticut: Praeger Publishers, pp.35-46. Nikolajeva, M., 2005. Aesthetic Approaches to Childrens Literature: An Introduction, Oxford, Scarecrow Press. Pape, W., 1992. ‘Happy endings in a world of misery: a literary convention between social constraints and utopia in childrens and adult literature,’ Poetics Today, 13(1), pp.179-196. Perrault, C., 1697. ‘Little red riding hood.’ Available at: http://www.usm.edu/media/english/fairytales/lrrh/lrrhm.htm [Accessed on 6 March 2013]. Rowling, J.K., 1997. Harry Potter and the sorcerer’s stone. New York: Scholastic Press. Shavit, Z., 1986. Poetics of childrens literature. Georgia: University of Georgia Press. Tatar, M., 2003. The hard facts of the Grimms fairy tale. New Jersey: Princeton University Press. Read More