Fairy Tales - The Key to the World's Secrets

      I'm pretty sure most college students do NOT write argumentative essays on fairy tales.
     And I don't think Works Cited pages typically include works of Dr. Seuss or The Princess Bride. 
     But anyway, I wrote this for my Comp II class my freshman year at Northeastern State, and it turned out to be the highest-scoring essay in class for that paper. And I had a lot of fun researching it.

     "We don't understand this world we live in. We try to figure out what makes it work, why things in nature happen the way they do. We try to explain our own actions and reasonings. And we know more than we did in the Dark Ages. For as Dr. Seuss wrote, "The more that you read, the more you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you'll go." (I Can Read With My Eyes Shut!) But we still don't completely understand everything, and we probably never will. As we grow older, we lose track of the keys to get glimpses of this unfornseen knowledge. These keys are found in fairy tales, and we need, we must, hang on to them as grownups, in order to have a proper understanding of how the world works and our roles in it.

     Where do we start, then, to find these keys and whatever adventures stem from them? It would be a good idea to have a basic philosophy of life to keep in mind while on the journey. According to Martin Cothran in his article "The Rhetoric of Amazement", this world is enchanted. He states that writers of imaginative literature, like Dr. Seuss, take things apart and creatively reassemble them, allowing us to gain a clearer picture of the world. Cothran elaborates in a different article entitled "Is Fiction False?", pointing out that novels, short stories, etc. do not teach us truths by directly going from our questions to some abstraction. Instead, we learn the truths of concrete realities by experiencing what its' strengths and weaknesses are, how the truth plays out in practical reality.

      In his book Orthodoxy, 20th-century English jack-of-all-trades journalist/mystery author/aopologist/philosopher G. K. Chesterton wrote an essay entitled "The Ethics of Elfland". He opens by describing that the classical idea of democracy is really the same thing as tradition, as tradition is merely the democracy of the dead. In fact, he spends two pages outlining that point. Since, therefore, they really are the same thing, we ought not to discredit tradition merely because it is tradition. Chesterton says that "Fairy tales are the entirely reasonable things. They are not fantasies, for compared with them other things are fantastic. For Fairyland is nothing but the sunny country of common sense." There some developments which are purely logical and reasonable, for example, the fact that if the Ugly Stepsisters are older than Cinderella, then Cinderella is younger than the Ugly Stepsisters. However, the true test of Fairyland is of the imagination, which separates the rational from the irrational. We simply cannot fathom two plus three not equalling five, so that is a rational fact. But we can picture the grass one day growing blue, or a dog driving a motorcycle. These are irrational ideas. And Chesterton argues that most of the world we live iin is, by this test, and extremely irrational place.

     For such an obscure character of history, G. K. Chesterton had a very large impact on the twentieth century, influencing those such as apologist C. S. Lewis, authors Dorothy Sayers and J. K. Rowling, and filmmakers Orson Welles and Alfred Hitchcock. Ralph C. Wood reviewed Chesterton's essay collection in his article "Orthodoxy at a Hundred", Wood said that while Chesterton was often cantakerous, and quite a character, he sought to amend the wrongs of his times "by means of a fiesty and witty, punning and alliterative kind of journalism." In the course of doing so, "Chesterton treats the most serious things in the lightest manner, probing depths when he appears to be skating on surfaces." (Wood)

     For all the apparently pointlessness of activities such as ice skating, there are some real uses and benefits, too. We may forget the particulars of a tale we hear as children, but that doesn't mean that we've forgotten about the story. Nancy Willard explains this in a piece for Horn Book Magazine. She says that while the story one forgets about disappears forever, the story one forgets only leaves for a short time. It will come back when needed; the stories don't do long goodbyes very well. They are a shelter to keep us safe, as well as a station, sending us out in the world. (Willard)

      As they send us out into the world, like any good guardian, they leave us pieces of advice to guide us in our travels. For all the wonderful satire of William Goldman's cult classic The Princess Bride, he makes very clear to drive one point home: Life isn't fair. Beauty and the Beast shows us that a thing must be loved before it is lovable in itself, that change can occur by showing kindness to those who are undeserving of it. The Three Little Pigs teaches us that in addition to work ethic, we also need the proper knowledge and materials to succeed. Spider-Man and The Sword of Damocles both prove poignantly that when given great power, we must be careful to exercise it in a manner fitting such a great responsibility. Charlotte's Web shocks us by depicting how far the bonds of friendship can stretch us.

      Fairy tales have many depths and layers, almost like an onion, Willard notes. As we grow, our depth and understanding increases, and much like Narnia's Aslan, the stories grow bigger the older we become. Chesterton outlined that when we are very young children, we merely need tales, not necessarily fairy tales. Life itself is so interesting, we simply cannot conceive that we might ever need more depths than what we see. "A child of seven is excited by being told that Tommy opened a door and saw a dragon. But a child of three is excited that Tommy opened a door." (Chesterton)

        Stories and fairy tales teach us about life. They show us how the world works, set an example of how we should act. This sometimes means showing the other side of that coin, the consequences of what happens when we fail or disobey. This is why Jesus taught in parables, and the Greeks created their wonderful mythology, because we are wired to retain the things we hear through story, and then think about the tales we hear, and in doing so learn from them. Great ideas can be passed on, traits of virtue live immortally in legends. We get our morals and values from the stories we absorb and drink in, which makes the art of storytelling the most effective teaching tool there is.

     This subject could easily take up whole volumes, as well as branching into other fields such as psychology or theology. There is too much information to be bottled up and left alone. However, I will sum up: This world is a mysterious place. We are all on a long journey, and the keys to fulfill the quests we must face are found in the stories we learn as children. Like Chesterton, these too are my attitudes towards life, which I also felt before I could think, and which I too thought before I could write."

Jonah

    Well, when I was little, before Courtney was born, in the rare times when I wasn't reenacting the latesr ballgame in the backyard, or inventing wonderful comebacks and fierce rivalries with the counting cats, or learning basic math while playing board games, I would gather up my stuffed animals, set them all in a row, and preach a sermon to the cottony congregation. They didn't complain much about the depth of teaching(or lack of), since I didn't know anyone cared about things like that until about five years later. And they didn't mind that it was always the same sermon over and over, about Jonah. (With maybe some David and Goliath occasionally in there, too.) 

       So, now fifteen years later, I'm sitting in my polar dorm room, with my homework mostly done for the most part, and wishing I knew people aroud here to do stuff with, where I didn't constantly have to keep my guard up, or pretend whatever was happening was interesting, or where I wouldn't feel like a burden to people. Just something...fun. 

       So, I guess I'll find Bruno and Fetch the Beanie Babies, Dusty the Webkinz, Traveler the random dog Amanda sent me, and Abby Lee the guitar, tell them to wake up, sing a hymn or two(quietly, very quietly. Sigh. They should be sung loudly and joyfully.) and then grab my Bible off the shelf and flip it open somewhere and study it. May as well be Jonah as any other place, right? 

     (Continued several days later, in much the same mood...) 

     "The word of the Lord came to Jonah the son of Amittai: "Go to the great city of Nineveh and preach against it, because its wickedness has come before me." 
     But Jonah ran away from the Lord an headed to Tarshish. he went down to Joppa, where he found a ship bound for that port. After paying the fare, he went aboard and sailed for Tarshish to flee from the Lord." 
   I'm interrupting here, in kind a William Goldman-ish way, to comment on these verses. If God has decided to destroy Nineveh because he's sick of dealing with them, they must have been aseriously wicked people. I don't really know anything much about ancient Middle-Eastern geography(or geography of anywhere at any time), but Tarshish is a long ways from Nineveh in the opposite direction. Maybe it's like having to be in Georgia and driving towards Oregon instead. 
   Anyway, the point is, Jonah is disobeying. And...did he really think he could hide from God? 
     "Then the Lord sent a great wind on the sea, and such a violent storm arose that the ship threatened to break up. All the sailors were afraid and each one cried out to his own god. And they threw all the cargo into the sea to lighten the ship. 
     But Jonah had gone below deck, where he lay down and fell into a deep sleep. The captain went to him and said, "How can you sleep? Get up and call on your god! Maybe he will take notice of us, and we will not perish." 
   Whatever polythestic religion(s) the sailors had, they got this part right. This was bad. They were panicking, and knew somehow, way hidden deep in some mysterious way, they knew that God was the ruler of all. 
     "Then the sailors said to each other, "Come, let us cast lots to find out who is responsible for this calamity." They cast lots and the lot fell on Jonah. 
     So they asked him, "Tell us, who is responsible for making all this trouble for us? What do you do? Where do you come from?  What is your country? From what people are you?" 
     He answered, "I am a Hebrew and I worship the Lord, the God of heaven, who made the sea and the land." 
     This terrified them and they asked, "What have you done?" (They knew he was running away from the Lord, because he had already told them so.) 
   Isn't this just unbelievable, Jonah's act of trying to run away in the first place? There must have been plenty of conversations between the sailors trying to figure out who this guy was, and why he was there. And again, proof that they knew about God's supremacy, by their incredulous question. 
     "The sea was getting rougher and rougher. So they asked him, "What can we do to you to get the sea calm down for us?" 
     "Pick me up and throw me into the sea," he replied, "and it will become calm. I know that it is my fault that this great storm has come upon us." 
   Was he trying to commit suicide, seeing as the running-away plan wasn't working? And that is a strange answer...
     "Instead, the men did their best to row back to land. But they could not; the sea grew even wilder than before. Then they cried out to the Lord, "O Lord, please do not let us die for taking this man's life. Do not hold us accountable for killing an innocent man, for you, O Lord, have done as you pleased." 
   These sailors are looking like the best people in the story so far...they didn't want to murder someone, so they tried to get him away as fast as possible. But then when they see they don't really have that option, their prayer is heartfelt and genuine, obeying by doing something they didn't understand. Their hearts were being re-formed, changed drastically in a way that wasn't tame, but it was good. 
     "Then they took Jonah and threw him overboard, and the raging seas grew calm. At this the men greatly feared the Lord, and they offered a sarifice to the Lord and made vows to him. But the Lord provided a great fish to swallow Jonah, and Jonah was inside the fish three days and three nights. 
   Still more proof that they were changed. And another example of God's providence, his directing of things that fit together well looking back, but that don't make sense at the moment. 
   But, anyway, that ends chapter one. 

     "From inside the fish Jonah prayed to the Lord his God. 
     He said, "In my distress I called to the Lord, and he answered me. From the depths of the grave I called for help, and you listened to my cry. You hurled me into the deep, into the very heart of the seas, and the currents swirled about me; all your waves and breakers swept over me. I said, "I have been banished from your sight; yet I will look again toward your holy temple." The engulfing waters threatened me, the deep surrounded me; seasweed was wrapped around my head. To the roots of the mountains I sank down; the earth beneath barred me in forever. But you brought my life up from the pit, O Lord my God. 
     "When my life was ebbing away, I remembered you, Lord, and my prayer rose to you, to your holy temple. 
"Those who cling to worthless idols forfiet the grace that could be theirs. But I, with a song of thanksgiving, will sacrifice to you. What I have vowed I will make good. Salvation comes from the Lord." 
     And the Lord commanded the fish, and it vomited Jonah onto dry land. 
   Now, what he's saying is right...but...something just doesn't quite add up. See what's missing there? "I'm sorry for disobeying, please forgive me, Lord." That's kind of an important omission - if he would have said that, it would have been written down. But - it isn't.
He's depressed, and I think anyone would be, stuck inside a fish. But somehow this prayer is all about me, me, me...
Now to chapter three. 

     (Concluded a few days after that, while attempting to rest over the weekend and ignore this sickness that's trying to capture me...)

     "Then the word of the Lord came to Jonah a second time: "Go to the great city of Nineveh and proclaim to it the message I give you." 
     Jonah obeyed the word of the Lord and went to Nineveh. Now, Nineveh was a very large city; it took three days to go all through it. 
   I heard once that would be an estimated population of 120,000, which was ENROMOUS in that day. Something like New York City or LA nowadays. 
     "Jonah started into the city, going a day's journey, and he proclaimed: "Forty more days and Nineveh will be destroyed." The Ninevites believed God. They declared a fast, and all of them, from the greatest to the least, put on sackcloth. 
   Jonah probably loved that message, getting to talk about the destruction of his enemies' greatest city. But the important thing is that the Ninevites believed what he was saying and repented. Fasting and sackcloth don't really have modern equivalents, but they were signs of very serious prayer and repentance. 
     "When the news reached the king of Nineveh, he rose from his throne, took off his royal robes, covered himself with sackcloth and sat down in the dust. Then he issued a proclaimation in Nineveh: "By the decree of the king and his nobles: Do not let any man or beast, herd or flock, taste anything, do not let them eat or drink. But let man and beast be covered with sackcloth. Let everyone call urgently on God. Let them give up their evil ways and their violence. Who knows? God may yet relent and with compassion turn from his fierce anger so that we will not perish." 
     "When God saw what they did and how they turned from their evil ways, he had compassion and did not bring upon them the desctruction he had threatened." 
   Wow. This is just amazing, so mind-boggling to consider: That a righteous holy God could forgive our sinful evil actions - Over and over and over... 
   This is also where most of the storybook versions we learn in Sunday School when five years old end. But it isn't actually the end of the story...
   We still have one final chapter in this very strange little book.

     "But Jonah was greatly displeased and became angry. He prayed to the Lord, "O Lord, is this not what I said when I was still at home? That is why I was so quick to flee to Tarshish. I knew that you were a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abounding in love; a God who relents from sending calamity. Now, O Lord, take away my life, for it is better for me to die than to live." "But the Lord replied, "Have you any right to be angry?" 
   Uh... Really? So he runs away; reluctantly obeys and gleefully condemns the city, and then complains because God is merciful. And there's that suicidal tendency again. It's just so unbelievably petty. And then God's response, much like his answer to Job: "Do you have any real reason to be angry with Me?" 
     "Jonah went out and set down in a place wast of the city. There he made himself a shelter, sat in its' shade and waited to see what would happen to the city. Then the Lord God provided a vine and made it grow up over Jonah to give shade for his head to ease his discomfort, and Jonah was very happy about the vine. But at dawn the next day God provided a worm, which chewed the vine so that it withered. When the sun rose, God provided a scorching east wind, and the sun blazed on Jonah's head so that he grew faint. He wanted to die, and said, "It would be better for me to die than to live." 
   How did he build a shelter? Out of what? And he's just going to sit there and watch for...nothing? Then God provides in his mercy a plant to grow to give shade, which Jonah does not in any way deserve. How did it grow over six feet in one day, anyway? Those aren't important, but curious questions that come up while reading... 
   God's mercy is also tempered with justice, so he killed the plant and raised up a might wind. And STILL Jonah doesn't get it.
     "But God said to Jonah, "Do you have a right to be angry about the vine?" 
     "I do," he said. "I am angry enough to die." 
     But the Lord said, "You have been concerned about this vine, though you did not tend it or make it grow. It sprang up overnight and died overnight. But Nineveh has more than a hundred and twenty thousand people who cannot tell their left hand from their right, and many cattle as well. Should I not be concerned about that great city?" 
   And that's it. The end. A reminder that God is God, and we are not. We usually don't understand his purposes, but he has a reason for them.