Bruno Bettelheim, a therapist and instructor, delves into the psychological thought process of children while they are edified due to fairy tales. Without fairy tales, children are robbed of what they could gain from literature. By Bettelheim’s standards within “The Struggle for Meaning,” children are entitled to a deeper meaning of literature. Fairy tales captivate children’s creative thought process to unconsciously guide them morally. This is done by letting children not choose between good and evil, but by who they wish to unconsciously become in a given fairy tale. Sheltering children from life’s grave aspects may lead to personality problems later in life. Children use daydreams to fit their style of unconscious thought that is then used
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(Bettelheim 215). When reading “Rumpelstilskin” children discern how Rumpelstilskin has taken advantage of the agreement he had fabricated and he then made a mistake by being arrogant. Children gather the insight of how gambling with something you have come to acquire is unmindful due to the chance of losing it by playing games. This was present by Rumpelstilskin losing the child he had gained due to a previous deal. Unconscious children will read and see that they would like to be the girl who keeps her firstborn because the taking of someone else’s baby is wrong. Also children would want to be a loving parent who in the future will not jeopardize their daughter’s baby for their own personal benefit. According to Bettelheim, modern children’s literature blocks out violent emotions. (Bettelheim 215) In the fairy tale of “Rumpelstilskin,” the consequence of death to the daughter is included in the story. The presentation of death within methodical children’s literature is unheard of. Through the exposure of violent emotions in fairy tales, children unconsciously cope with their own fears. Bettelheim poses the idea of how children can use fairy tales as a way to handle fears at their own level of understanding. (Bettelheim
(Bettelheim 215). When reading “Rumpelstilskin” children discern how Rumpelstilskin has taken advantage of the agreement he had fabricated and he then made a mistake by being arrogant. Children gather the insight of how gambling with something you have come to acquire is unmindful due to the chance of losing it by playing games. This was present by Rumpelstilskin losing the child he had gained due to a previous deal. Unconscious children will read and see that they would like to be the girl who keeps her firstborn because the taking of someone else’s baby is wrong. Also children would want to be a loving parent who in the future will not jeopardize their daughter’s baby for their own personal benefit. According to Bettelheim, modern children’s literature blocks out violent emotions. (Bettelheim 215) In the fairy tale of “Rumpelstilskin,” the consequence of death to the daughter is included in the story. The presentation of death within methodical children’s literature is unheard of. Through the exposure of violent emotions in fairy tales, children unconsciously cope with their own fears. Bettelheim poses the idea of how children can use fairy tales as a way to handle fears at their own level of understanding. (Bettelheim