J is for...Justice!

One of the reasons why fairy tales are so popular is because the bad guys are always punished! No-one would like reading fairy tales if the bad guy came out on top, so justice is an important part of the story.
Taken from here
In Hansel and Gretel there are two villains: their mother, who abandoned them in the forest to die, and the witch, who wanted to eat them. By the end of the story, both villains are dead and Hansel and Gretel live happily ever after with their father. Their mother died sometime while they were gone, and they pushed the witch into her own oven, effectively killing her. I'm sure this tale wouldn't be as popular if the witch succeeded in eating the children, or if the mother lived happily ever after!
In Little Red Riding Hood, the wolf who tried to eat Little Red and her grandmother is killed in the end, while they are unharmed.
Taken from here
In Snow White, the evil queen who tries to kill her on multiple occasions does not succeed, and in the end is forced to dance in red hot iron shoes as punishment, which eventually kills her, while Snow White and her prince live happily ever after.
In Cinderella, her two stepsisters were punished for their wrongful treatment of Cinderella by being pecked in both eyes by pigeons, therefore being blind for the rest of their lives, while Cinderella lived happily ever after with her prince.
I love seeing the villains in fairy tales get what they deserve at the end of the story, I just wish that villains in real life were punished as easily!

Comments

  1. Clint11 April 2012 at 12:52

    Great post for your theme. I am with you with the bad guys came out on top most of the fairy tales would not be as popular as they are now.

    I am with you pertaining to villains in real life. Here in the US we have the same problem villains get out with a technicality.

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    Replies
    1. Laura Clipson11 April 2012 at 13:18

      Thank you! Yeah, it'd be nice if life was more like fairy tales in that respect! It's horrible the way people get away with things these days.

      Delete
  2. Tina11 April 2012 at 12:53

    This comment has been removed by the author.

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  3. Tina11 April 2012 at 12:54

    I am having so much fun reading your entries, great writing, great topic.

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    Replies
    1. Laura Clipson11 April 2012 at 13:19

      Thank you! I'm having a lot of fun writing them, too :)

      Delete
  4. Kyra Lennon11 April 2012 at 14:04

    Fairy tales are full of ideals, and the bad guys getting what they deserve is one of the best things about them! I agree, in real life, the bad guys rarely get punished - but that's why we escape into a good book! :D

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    1. Laura Clipson11 April 2012 at 17:33

      It's definitely one of the reasons why I love books so much! :)

      Delete
  5. Rob Z Tobor11 April 2012 at 14:49

    Ah yes real life is never quite as simple. Just as well I live in cyberspace (mostly)

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    Replies
    1. Laura Clipson11 April 2012 at 17:34

      It's definitely nice being able to escape from it all, even if it's only for short periods of time :)

      Delete
  6. Miss H11 April 2012 at 15:21

    Lol yeah seeing the victims get justice must have been why the earlier versions died out!

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  7. The Beans11 April 2012 at 15:22

    It's funny that you should mention Little Red Riding Hood. In the original (French) version, the wolf does eat her because disobeyed orders to not go into the forest on her own. o_O

    But, yeah. Fairy Tale justice is gruesomely awesome.

    -Barb the French Bean

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    Replies
    1. Laura Clipson11 April 2012 at 17:36

      Oh yeah, I've read that version :) I love justice in fairy tales, it's so much more gruesome than ordinary justice! :)

      Delete
  8. S. L. Hennessy11 April 2012 at 17:07

    That's one of the best things about fairy tales...it all comes out right in the end. The bad get punished and the good get married and castles. Real life should be the same.

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    Replies
    1. Laura Clipson11 April 2012 at 17:37

      I wish it was! Then everyone could live happily ever after :)

      Delete
  9. Georgina Morales12 April 2012 at 01:28

    The thing is that the real fairy tales are not always so uplifting, in The Little Mermaid she dissolves (quite painfully) into sea foam to later become a sister of the air that has to do good deeds for 300 years before being able to free her soul. In The Steadfast Tin Soldier the ballerina and the soldier die consumed by the fire of the hearth. There is another fairy tale I don't remember by name but the MC is a girl who ends up chopped to pieces by her prince charming when she opens a room he had warned her not to open... so, as you can see, it is only modern versions of fairy tales that end up so happily, if gruesome.

    Nice post.
    From Diary of a Writer in Progress

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    Replies
    1. Laura Clipson12 April 2012 at 09:25

      Yeah I actually prefer the earlier versions, I've mentioned a lot of them in previous posts :) Thanks for visiting!

      Delete

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