Some thoughts on fairy tales
While sitting and listening to Maryanne read the girls some fairy tales before bed, I noticed a couple things.
- Jack (of “and the Beanstalk” fame) is a thieving scoundrel
Ok seriously. He has a beanstalk grow outside his house and then he climbs up to discover a giant’s castle. DISCOVERS a giant’s castle. This means he had no idea the giant existed. It wasn’t like he climbed up and said “oh, this is the castle of that giant that rampages across the land, stomping on people and lowering property values like a tornado in a trailer park.”
No, this was just some random giant that kept to himself in his castle. He could have been a nice hardworking giant who made his money in landscaping or something.
So what does Jack do? He not only steals the goose that lays the golden egg (ok, that’s probably how the giant made his money, but my point still stands), but he goes back again to steal more stuff. What happens when the giant comes to reclaim his property? That’s right, Jack chops down the beanstalk and the giant dies.
The more I think about this, the more I think it’s anti-Libertarian propaganda. ”Oh poor me, I was dumb enough to squander my cow and get some beans, so it’s perfectly acceptable to commit larceny and homicide.”
Basically, Jack is a little murderous thieving jerk with a sense of entitlement.
- Cats are liars
The other story being read was Puss In Boots. Ok, we all know that cats are pretty much worthless. That’s something of a given. If someone asks “name one cat that ever did anything” the story of Puss in Boots comes to mind.
So what did this cat do that was so noteworthy? That’s right, he lied. Through a series of lies and misdirection, the cat finagles a way for his master to marry a princess and have a castle.
Now you might say this was a noble effort since he was doing it for someone else, but when you really think about it he was basically setting up “his human” to be able to pamper the cat for the rest of his 9 lives.
Like all cats, Puss in Boots is a self serving miscreant.
Don’t even get me started on Snow White.
