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Fairy Tales: the Search for Truth in the Modern Age

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Above: Little Red Riding Hood and the Wolf in the forest by Carl Larsson (1853–1919)

If there was ever a time in history that craved fairy tales, it would be the present age. The emphasis on science, research, and reason has become a common norm in modern society to vest and defend beliefs. But what if we have missed the mark and our hearts are yearning to break beyond the glass wall of reason? There have been periods of history when reason outran emotion, and other times when emotion outran reason. But what if we were to combine the two in a near perfect balance? Just as some of the greatest theologians emphasized the importance of faith and reason working in unison, so too should reason and emotion work in parallel with one another to obtain truth. As we search for truth and decipher through the fallen errors of this world, the human soul longs to unite with the Divine. And as our feeble minds need both depth and beauty, where better to find this combination than among adventurous and epic stories known more familiarly as fairy tales? Modern society presumptuously assumes that fairy tales are for the young, and do not hold the weight or depth of knowledge for the developed mind. What a false conclusion, because fairy stories are steeped in truth and driven by the heart’s longing for union with God. Even though  we desire to build our careers, families, and uphold our vocations as adults, we should not shrink from the necessity of fairy stories. Such tales will not only benefit the hearts and minds of children, but they will have a greater impact upon us, who are often tainted by the world’s temptations. It is through fairy tales that we may enliven our narrow minds to expand upon God’s truth, as these stories tame our emotions while addressing moral lessons, but also balancing faith to coincide with reason.

My personal love of fairy tales stems from childhood, and the hours of reading those epic adventures in faraway castles that housed kings and queens, oftentimes requiring a knight’s rescue. Though these are typical characteristics of fairy tales, there is more to such narratives than glamorous and adventurous characters. There are underlying conflicts and lessons that are found deep within the recesses of these epic quests. The reader shouldn’t just be drawn in by the valiant knight riding on a white steed who  steals the heart of the princess, but ultimately, by the protagonist’s desire to combat evil and promote good. The innocent heart of a child is not immune to what is good, true, and beautiful, nor should the mind of an adult shrink of the lessons addressed in such tales. C. S. Lewis said,

When I was ten, I read fairy tales in secret and would have been ashamed if I had been found doing so. Now that I am fifty, I read them openly. When I became a man I put away childish things, including the fear of childishness and the desire to be very grown up.

The mind, whether young or old, should not be tainted by what the world deems childish or unimportant. Rather, it is critical in today’s modern society, tainted by secularism, that one finds respite among the valiant knights who defeat the evil dragon and bring peace to the kingdom. The true lesson is not only found in the victorious battle by the sword, but more so in the character’s personal growth from weakness to virtuous strength and peace of soul obtained through suffering.

The human mind is feeble and requires constant reminders of the Divine, both in the good and the fight to overcome evil. It is the age-old but important story involving  suffering, sacrifice, redemption, and resurrection, which ultimately points to the turning point in history, namely, Christ’s death, passion, and resurrection. Like C. S. Lewis, J.R.R. Tolkien also explored the necessity for fairy stories and delved into this topic at an Andrew Lang lecture at the University of St. Andrews, Scotland on 8 March 1939. Tolkien expounded upon the thought that

The realm of fairy-story is wide and deep and high and filled with many things: all manner of beasts and birds are found there; shoreless seas and stars uncounted; beauty that is an enchantment, and an ever-present peril; both joy and sorrow as sharp as swords.

It is among the trappings and the expositions of charity in these fantasy stories that readers are drawn to eccentric tales in the faraway lands that ultimately seek to promote beauty, truth, and goodness – the balance between reason and emotion. One should never be ashamed of escaping the present secular calamities to hide among the story lines of a fairy tale. For in these epic tales, even an adult heart may find solace in the fight for good to overcome evil. To ignore the importance of fairy stories is to ignore the gift of God’s creation. Through creation, we are offered small glimpses into God’s divine nature and no genre delves more deeply into such beauty than the world of traditional fantasy.

As many young children admire these tales, it would be amiss to disregard the importance of these stories for adults, whether the laity or the religious, but there is a great need for parents to reflect and embrace fairy stories. It is through these tales that truth is instructed to young souls. Parents are given the gift, duty, and opportunity to teach their children about God, Creation, and His purpose for each soul upon this earth. To teach such truths is not always easy, as there must be an intricate balance of faith and reason. Children do not solely learn from facts, but rather from examples, whether from the behaviors of the parents or through the actions of characters in stories. Stories are critically important, because they bring a reader face to face with reality, morality, mortality, and divine truths. Some moral lessons are difficult to teach, but fairy tales offer a captivating alternative learning experience to the hearts and minds of little ones. It is the daring tales of exaggerated characters that trigger young minds to invest in the moral and life lessons in a fantasy world and then apply such warnings to their own life.

There is an intricate balance of reason and emotion interwoven throughout fairy stories. As adults, the sufferings and sorrows of this world are obvious to our tainted hearts. The unhappiness and disorder of the world can only be overcome by union with God and through His truths, but to understand these truths, the adult mind must sometimes seek beyond sole facts and travel to the distant lands of elves, dwarves, and dragons. Tolkien appreciated the fantastical realm and found consolation among the elves and hobbits who  had the opportunity to achieve redemption through their flaws and suffering. These stories of salvation are not only for the fictional characters of Tolkien’s Middle Earth, but also for the laboring souls expelled from the Garden of Eden awaiting  union with God. With fortitude, we may also find solace in overcoming our own vices on this earth, just as the dwarves sought to conquer the dragon, Smaug.

To transverse through this treacherous earthly life, filled with snares of sin, vice, and temptation, we may overcome such hardships by bearing crosses with faith and hope – just as Bilbo Baggins, in  Tolkien’s The Hobbit, bore the ring and struggled to remain faithful to his mission. Fairy stories and myths are far from immature or negligible, rather, as Tolkien believed, they are an important literary contribution that enables one to better understand human nature, Original Sin, and divine truths. It is through the hands of God’s creatures that these stories, the creative gifts of sub-creation, offer both wandering souls and cross-bearing souls the ability to see God through a unique lens layered in sacrifice, redemption, and resurrection. As the modern world is steeped in secularism and moral relativism, it is evident that fairy stories are a crucial component to transport humanity from vice to virtue. Through these exploratory tales and fantastical plots of outlandish characters, readers have an opportunity to find God along journeys that involve suffering, mortality, joy, friendship, and a search for beauty, truth, and goodness.

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