Bettelheim on Fairytales

Many think that the only real benefit of reading for children is developing their language skills. In what other ways does Bettelheim suggest children might benefit from reading fairy tales or having them read to them?
Bettleheim suggests that children learn about life and human nature from reading. The reason this is good, moreso than say them learning it from a parent or teacher, is that it's put on a level that they can comprehend, even if they are only unconsciously comprehending it. Adults (because really, it's not just parents and teachers that teach your children anymore) don't fully understand the way a child's mind works, Bettleheim feels and I agree. They assume they understand things as fully as the adult or else they talk down to the child in a way that I know isn't always respectful. Children do notice that. Many parents want to sheild their children from the nasty things in the word, but then the child is taught things like how people are good, while the child knows they can't always be good. It confuses them.

Fairytales put things on their level, and don't always have the happiest of endings. Though a child might never have to get eaten by a wolf dressed in their grandmother's clothing to see Little Red's mistakes, they still see the consequences of her decisions. They also learn that many terrible obstacles can be over come and good things can still happen in the end. I previously sed Hansel and Gretel as an example, and they're perfect here as well. Their parents leave them alone in the woods twice, a witch tries to eat them, they can't cross a river to get home, but in the end they do and their father welcomes them with open arms. While there may be things going on within the story that aren't as obvious (which we'll probably hit on in Little Red), they are still given the problem in the story directly and in simple terms. It's much easier to read and feel like you're comprehending something on your own than to simply be told things, or so I like to think.


On condescending to children

It's hard because it's an almost entirely different way of thinking from what I've been doing. I know when I deal with my niece and nephew I almost always think "why can't they understand this like I do?" but they just can't. My niece is a teen now and I know she and I still think differently. We've recently found my nephew is actually mildly autistic, so it's honestly no wonder he doesn't get things like the rest of us sometimes.

What of the INNER drives, fears, conflicts?

A lot of the inner drives and such I think are dealt with on a subconscious level for the child. We might not be aware of the things going on within them because it's been so long for most of us since we've experienced these things whether either we or they are honestly that aware of it. The fairy tales show the child that these feelings are alright. The good fairy tale according to Bettleheim not just tells them it's alright, but shows an ending where it is not deadly or so harmful that this character that is easily related to can not recover from their actions. This is why the version of Little Red he examined was the Grimms' version. Little Red Cap gets into trouble, disobeys the female figure (mom) and places herself into a situation with the male figure (wolf), but is then also rescued by a male figure (huntsman) after which she learns to ally herself with a female figure (granny) to help solve her problems. Here we have an excellent example of the Elecktra complex at work in that the child defies the females leaders of her life and goes to the more knowledgeable male which has consequences that she does suffer, but she is then forgiven as she is rescued by a different male who represents the good father and what she needs. Then the girl is shown trusting in the female figures in her life, which leads another male that is after her in a bad way to his end. I feel like other versions we read, such as ones where the wolf gets eaten also touches on the oral drive, but that's not as big of an issue in the stories I don't feel.