The purpose of fairytales became to THREATEN children into behaving themselves, translated…
As I was a child, I’d feared the story of Pinocchio.
After I’d learned to read, my maternal grandfather bought a set of fairytales which had been rewrote for children, for all of us, his grandchildren to read when we come visit him. In my memories, the stories in this book were rewritten to fit our level of understanding, and that there were also, illustrations, to help the young readers establish that sense of aestheticism at a young age.
Back then, I couldn’t book the books down, until I’d thumbed across “Pinocchio”, I was so shocked by the storyline. The fairy in the tale was extremely disciplinarian, to the point of being cruel, and whenever Pinocchio faulted, he’d immediately gotten punished. The illustrations for the story was gray and cold, including that strict looking fairy, as well as the evil look that the fox and the cat as they cheated Pinocchio, and, as he’d turned into a donkey, and was whipped at the amusement park, along with the storms he and his maker weathered after escaping from the belly of the whale too.
one of the original illustrations of the story, found online…
My fear from then came from: I don’t think Pinocchio was extremely bad! Perhaps, he was a bit naughty, but, after he was cheated by the fox and the cat, he was readied for school, and the reason why he was tricked by the fox and the cat was because he’d wanted to get a present for Geppetto, then why did he need to get put through so many trials? But thinking back now, the illustrations were humorous, as Pinocchio started lying, and his nose grew longer and longer, and as he finally had it and started telling the truth, a woodpecker came in from the window, then, pecked his long nose off. Actually, that was a cute illustration, and, Pinocchio’s nose even started growing the leaves too, but it’d still thrilled me. Because in the illustrations, the fairy didn’t smile at all, instead, she’d harshly disciplined Pinocchio, “Had you listened to me sooner, you wouldn’t have gone through hell!”
As I read it as an adult, I’d understood it, that threats are still being used to teach children throughout the ages: children needed to behave, to not act up, to study hard, the world outside is scary, “I told you so.”
And so, as Mimi Chou begged me to read “Pinocchio”, a gift from someone, I’d become, hesitant, primarily, I’d recalled how long that fear stayed with me as I read it as a child, I didn’t want to put her through the same things. I’d told her, “This is a tale that teaches children to behave themselves, I didn’t like it at all.” But she’d insisted that I read it to her. And so, I’d used as light a tone as I possibly could to tell her, and even in the segment where his nose grew long, I’d acted it out, “Mimi look, the woodpecker, peck, peck!”
isketch from online…
I’d not noticed that look of shock in her expressions escalating, then suddenly, she’d melted down and cried hard. She couldn’t listen to what I was saying, and only called out repeatedly, “Mommy, throw the book away, throw it out!” I’d forgotten how I’d soothed her back down that day, but until later on, the various illustration of Pinocchio online still scared her so.
That’s natural! The lies the adults didn’t want the children to tell, are quite different from the lies from the children’s perspectives. Everybody is lying every day, big and small, the children too. Because the public toilets were too unsanitary, they’d lied to us that they didn’t need to go, that the food we’d given them didn’t taste good, so they’d lied about not being hungry. And, based off of the logic in Pinocchio, every kid IS a bad child.
Recently, I’d discussed with Mimi Chou, why so many fairytales shocked children, I’d told her, because the adults hoped, that it can scare the children into behaving themselves, at this time, my second-grade daughter said something very wise, “Children who grew up like that only fear, they won’t behave at all.”
And so, a lot of fairytales aimed at scaring the children into behaving, and, the lessons these stories teach are important, but, perhaps, during the time when the stories are written, the authors thought, that the only way to MAKE kids behave, is by scaring them, by shocking them, by making them feel threatened for their safety, and although these authors’ intentions were good, but, there ARE, better ways, to TEACH your child to behave better!
Life, the Obstacle Course 