Do you believe in fairy tales? I do.
Even though I am drawn to dystopian stories, I believe in utopia. Dystopia can be too real, whereas the world needs hope, dreams, and miracles. That is why fairy tales are meaningful.
“Fairy tales are more than true: not because they tell us that dragons exist, but because they tell us that dragons can be beaten.”
― Neil Gaiman, Coraline
Every fairy tale is a scary tale. There are handsome protagonists and fiery and threatening antagonists, who are at loggerheads. We know them, as the storyteller labels them for us — the protagonists are usually fairer too, and the antagonists are darker.
When we meet people who look like the antagonists in the fairy tale, we feel threatened. We feel comfortable with those who look like those typical protagonists.
The trouble starts here — the protagonists always win and the antagonists always lose. Well, good has to win over evil, right? Let us extend this further.
Here is how it does not work — predator is bad and prey is innocent, hence good. Predator has claws, sharp teeth, and fire eyes. They are the antagonists. The prey is beautiful, soft-eyed, and grazing. See where this is going?
This is how we see people. ‘Our type of people’ are relatable — that relatability brings in closeness, and hence they look beautiful. They become our protagonists. The ‘others’ don’t fit our idea of beauty. Now you know the flipside of fairy tales.
So, why do I still love fairy tales?
“If you happen to read fairy tales, you will observe that one idea runs from one end of them to the other — the idea that peace and happiness can only exist on some condition. This idea, which is the core of ethics, is the core of the nursery-tales.”
― G.K. Chesterton
See, that is the point. The idea is that we use color and looks to identify the good and the bad. But what we understand is that the ‘deeds’ done by those representatives, the actions that lead to conditions of happily ever after happen when peace exists.
Nobody wants to read happily ever after, because it is boring. Conflicts make a story, and the outcome has to be always boring peace and happiness. So the reader wants conflicts, but the characters want peace.
The need for peace is felt in a conflict. A conflict comes with two sides opposing each other. Of course, there is a side we like and there is a side we don’t. The side we like wins, and the side we detest loses. Is it not like how we see the world — we win, they lose?
“I believe that our lives, just like fairy tales — the stories that have been written by us humans, through our own experiences of living — will always have a Hero and a Heroine, a Fairy Godmother and a Wicked Witch.”
― Lucinda Riley, The Girl on the Cliff
Of course, we have the Ogre, the Hunchback, and the Dragon. Stories have evolved to have grotesque characters with good hearts, and even Shrek looks good on animated screens. But the idea does not change — the good and the kind wins.
The darkness is needed to see the meaning of light, the sunshine is needed to feel the shadows, and the rainbow is born of rain and shine. A world of peace and happiness is yearned for when there is suffering and conflict. But the story ends when peace and happiness are achieved.
Now, consider this world that is in conflict — those suffering yearn for peace and normalcy, and we are watching this from a distance. They are the characters in a fairy tale; we the readers, listen to and watch them.
I am shocked. I am living in a world of fairy tales.
Tomorrow, somebody will write today’s story. The side that writes the story will decide the protagonists and antagonists. This is how history is written and stories are told.
But the young child believes in utopia — utopia is filled with the same sufferers yearning for peace, but there is a way of nice, soft, and relatable storytelling that makes the child want to be in that story — suffering with the characters, and wanting to live happily ever after.
“Fairy tales in childhood are stepping stones throughout life, leading the way through trouble and trial. The value of fairy tales lies not in a brief literary escape from reality, but in the gift of hope that goodness truly is more powerful than evil and that even the darkest reality can lead to a Happily Ever After. Do not take that gift of hope lightly. It has the power to conquer despair in the midst of sorrow, to light the darkness in the valleys of life, to whisper “One more time” in the face of failure. Hope is what gives life to dreams, making the fairy tale the reality.”
― L.R. Knost
That is my life. The failures and falls. Hope and then the highs. Rinse and repeat. Every time, darkness rises only to be vanquished by hope.
There is the butterfly and the rainbow somewhere out there — for you, and for me. Every time you rise from a fall, they are there. For real. They are your reality and my reality.
My reality — my life, is my belief. So… I do believe in fairy tales.
