Moral Lessons for Children Depicted in Three Versions of the Fairy Tale, The Three Little Pigs

It is important to know the history of “The Three Little Pigs.” As Sutcliffe explains, the story started out as a nursery tale, almost identically to the way it is told today. Around the beginning of the 1900, Grimm printed the story The Wolf and the Seven Little Little Kids. This story is not the exact same as “The Three Little Pigs”, however, it has many parallels. The fact that the story was taken away from the german author, explains why it focuses on family and nature. The personification of the pigs would come from Grimm’s aspect of adding nature. The family of the three pigs (although two die) shows the differences that can occur within a family and how one way is can be better. THE TRUE STORY OF THE THREE LITTLE PIGS by A. Wolf published

Maria Tatar’s “An Introduction to Fairy Tales” discusses the impact on how the stories help guide the children from their younger age. The first five paragraphs of the article mentioned about how the children can overflow with imagination, and can vividly see their reality of desire and also, fear. The fairytales can also corrupt the naïve minds of the child in a way of making them realize the reality of the world is unjustified, and people can be harsh. Moreover, Tatar gives an explanation on how people grow up with the same fairy tales with different versions; which gives an entirely different personal idea. Fairy tales also develop the child’s intellectual mind by reading various kinds of genre.

One story that can be directly compared across cultures is The Three Little Pigs, originating in England, where it was first printed in the 1840s, but the story dates back much further. In the original English version, the first two little pigs are devoured by the big bad wolf, who is finally outwitted by the last pig who lures the wolf down the chimney into a pot of boiling water. The Japanese version, however, ends with the same fate for the wolf, but differs greatly in how the wolf reaches that fate. Unlike the English version where the third pig outwits the wolf on his own, the Japanese version tells of how the first two pigs escaped their flimsy homes and worked together with the third little pig to defeat the wolf.

The fairy tale helps the child to understand a balance between the good and the evil; it gives him a hope for a good future.” Fairy tales assure the

In Tatar’s article, An Introduction to Fairy Tales, she draws us in by describing childhood books as “sacred objects.” She takes a quote from Arthur Schlesinger, Jr. describing how the stories give lessons about what a child subconsciously knows - “that human nature is not innately good, that conflict is real, that life is harsh before it is happy - and thereby reassure them about their own fears and their own sense of self,” (Tatar 306). She describes how many adults long for the simplicity of enjoying those stories in their childhoods, only to realize that they outgrew them, and instead have been introduced to reality. The original stories were more for adults rather than for children. Nowadays, stories have been adapted to be more suitable for children. Fairy tales may allow a kid to wonder due to their charm, but they also can

For my essay I have chosen the following stories: Little Red Riding Hood and The Wolf and Also The Three Little Pigs. In the story grandmamma was vulnerable and scared. Grandma opened the door against her better judgement. Grandma was weak and tough. She reminds me of my own grandma very kind against Red on judgement at times. She knew his grin was ill willed and allowed her to be eaten. The afraid kind lady should have never let her guard down. I can also remember a situation when my grandma who was put in the same position with one of our neighbors. Our neighbor sold my grandma some candy, a orange and a curling irons for twenty dollars. I made the neighbor give her back the twenty dollars. The neighbor for instance was the wolf and I would

Have you ever wondered what the wolf's side of The Three Little Pigs story was? Well, Jon Scieszka gives his readers the opportunity to see a different perspective dealing with this very circumstance. In many of his books, including The True Story of the 3 Little Pigs by A. Wolf, Scieszka has used this style of writing that varies from the norm. Every turn of the page gives rise to new wonder and suspense as to what the reader will encounter as he or she moves through the pages of this intriguing book. Many of us grew up hearing fairy tales and nursery rhymes and most of us accepted them the way that they were. However, Jon Scieszka likes to take his readers on "adventures" through the

Tartar explains how a little Fairy Tale can affect someone’s life, it could be by their personality, or even just little things such as how they see life. She then explains that even reading the same stories as people got older, like for example The Little Red Riding Hood, each person will see it with a different message. On Maria Tatar work she explains some of the psychological aspects that are involved in knowledge development of children; she makes an emphasis on how some “fairy-tale characters always seem to be lying, cheating, or stealing their way to good fortune.” (Paragraph-10, Pg. 231); most parents do not want their children to steal things from other people. Tatar states that as people get older, they are more likely to forget the strong messages that a simple

A point of view is a position in which the story is being told, but did you know that there is two point of views in The Three Little Pigs and The True Story of the Three Little pigs? The two stories have views changed by how the author tells them. In the story of the pigs it’s in third person, but in the wolf’s view he just wants sugar and see’s them as a snack so it’s first person. The story of “The Three Little Pigs” and “The True story of the Three Little pigs” have different point of views that help the readers understanding of the wolf.

The tradition of telling fairy tales to children effects not only the listener but also the reader. Maria Tatar, in her book Off with Their Heads!, analyzes how fairy tales instill and reaffirm cultural values and expectations in their audience . Tatar proposes that fairy tales fall into three different tale-types: cautionary tales, exemplary stories, and reward- and- punishment tales. These three types portray different character traits as desirable and undesirable. Due to the tale’s varying literary methods it can change the effectiveness of the tale’s pedagogical value. In Tatar’s opinion, all of these tales are similar in the way they attempt to use punishment, reward, and fear to encourage or discourage certain behaviors. In the cautionary fairy tale “The Virgin Mary’s Child”, the use of punishment and fear to discourage certain behaviors is enhanced by the Christian motifs and values employed by the tale. These literary devices encourage the audience to reflect on and internalize the lessons that are presented in the fairy tale.

There is nothing more precious and heartwarming than the innocence of a child. The majority of parents in society want to shield children from the bad in life which is appreciated. Within human nature exists desires of inappropriate behavior; envy, deceit, selfishness, revenge, violence, assault and murder. The most well-known fairy tales depict virtue and the evil in life. Even more important, the form and structure of fairy tales suggest images to the child by which he can structure his daydreams and with them give a better direction to his life. (Bettelheim).

Reading fairy tales or seeing them represented has become part of an everyday routine for children. As Baker-Sperry states, “Through interaction that occurs within everyday routines (Corsaro 1997), children are able to learn the rules of the social group in which they are a part” (Baker-Sperry 717-718). For example, through Red Riding Hood, children learn to listen to their parents and to be wary of strangers. Some of these messages are harmful though; not all girls have to be naive and weak while boys are predacious wolves. Not everyone has to play the role that society assigns them.

The story of the “Three Little Pigs” has been around for a very long time. Parents have been telling their children this tale for generations. This story tells the narrative of three pigs, who construct their homes of three different materials, one straw, one wood and one brick. Then, comes along a Big Bad Wolf, who blows down two of the three homes and then focuses on tricking the final pig into coming out of his house so that he too, can be eaten. In this story, the third little pig, who made his home of brick, was the most admirable because he was clever, hard-working and courageous.

As we grow up, we hear fairy tales and we read them into our lives. Every word and every image is imprinted into our minds. The fairy tales we read are never abandoned. They grow with us and our dreams become molds of the many morals and happily ever afters fairy tales display. We tell children fairy tales when they go to sleep and they read them in school and we even have them watch Disney adaptions that reinforce them further. Generally, they were everywhere while we grew up and they continue to be present while children are growing up now. But what influence do these stories have? We casually expose our children to these tales, but in some cases they can have particularly, harmful personal effects on them, although there is nothing completely or visibly “bad” about them or about the characters in them. Before we divulge our youth to these stories, we should assess their substance and see what sort of effect they may be having on them. They have received so much scrutiny and have been studied by many. Recognizing fairy tales effects on the minds of children is vital in their development. This paper will focus on the underlying messages that the average person wouldn’t recognize in these everyday stories. There’s a modern distort with fairy tales because while they still are widely popular with the youth, they influence children’s self images, outlooks on reality and expectations for their futures, especially for young women.

Classic literature will always be remembered and retold over the generations as life lessons and morals that we try to live by. These morals are often used to help children learn these guiding values and morals. These lessons are presented to us as fairy tales and movies or cartoons for children. We never realize or ponder, “where did that moral come from?” or should I say, “who originally created this fable and life lesson that I am watching unfold in a Disney movie?” A fable is short and witty written piece and is deeply riddled with certain messages or lessons using, but not limited to, tales of animals. Fables were for adults but through time have been woven into everyone’s’ childhood. Fables, ghost stories, and urban legends are modern day fairytales or fables. Just as “The Grasshopper and The Ant” and “Tortoise and the Hare” were spread by oral tradition, urban legends and morals are spread in the same manner; thus creating contemporary folklore often with a moral sting in the tail. While it’s true that urban legends are still told while sipping hot chocolate and roasting marshmallows at a campfire, others are spread through classics movies like Walt Disney animation.