If you had a chance to get everything you ever wished for, that you ever wanted, would you take that chance or would you die with that chance still in your hands? In the short story, “The Third Wish,” written by Joan Aiken, the main character, a man called Mr. Peters, this is what happens. Mr. Peters is granted three wishes, but did he or did he not use the third wish? The author leaves you hanging, with no word of the third wish after Mr. Peters quiet death. This story is truly an odd romance.
This story, though it ends in death, is in fact, a rather peculiar romance. First it begins with a mild conflict, the swan Mr. Peters finds is caught in thorns and he must save it. He untangles the swan, and the small man it turns into grants him three wishes. These wishes are what lead to the next mild conflict of the story, it has to do with his first wish. It was for “A wife as beautiful as the forest.” Of course this wife was very beautiful, but she was previously a swan. As she gains a relationship once more with her sister, who is still a swan, she weeps more and more for her. Frankly, the mild conflict was to end his wife’s misery. He quickly solved this by turning her back into a swan. The story, unlike most romances, does not end in birth or marriage, it ends in death. But Mr. Peters’ death was a new beginning. His death wasn’t sad, he was happy when he died. His death was his own new beginning. He set off into the glorious kingdom of Heaven, or maybe he got reincarnated; whatever the belief, it was his new beginning.
Mr. Peters, though no one, except the author, knows what he truly looks like, is portrayed quite clearly. He is an old man who is still very clever. Mr. Peters is lonely in his old age. But Leita, his wife, is much a joy to him. He is a peaceful, thoughtful man. Mr. Peters is intelligent enough to let Leita go so that she can be happy. If he hadn’t turned her back into her back into her true form, a swan, she would have lived the rest of her life weeping for her sister. Mr. peters is a good man.
The story is full of happiness, but it is also full of sorrow. This statement is the meaning of a symbol in the story: The swans. The three swans in the story are the King of the Forest, Leita, and her sister, Rhea. The King of the forest downs Mr. Peters, but this brings happiness. The happiness it brings is Leita. Leita is the solution to Mr. Peters’ loneliness. Although she brings him joy, she also brings with her sadness. As she has been turned human, her sister stays swan. This close relationship makes her weep for her sister, showing the sorrow of the story. One more symbolic object of the story is the bench Mr. Peters builds for Leita. Though I is just a bench, it holds a strong significance: His love for her. If he didn’t love her, he wouldn’t want her to be near her sister. Mr. Peters truly loved Leita, and he wanted her to be happy, so he let her go.
In conclusion, Mr. Peters is a loving, caring man, but he knows when to let go. See, what the author is trying to convey to us as readers, is that if you truly love someone you have to be willing to let them go when they need to go their own way. Mr. Peters did just this, he let his love and desire drop to the background, as a penny would drop to the floor, for the happiness of this wife. Mr. Peters might have been a clever, loving man, but he was also portrayed as an intelligent man.
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
Wednesday, February 3, 2010
A Sapient Little Girl
Could you be so imaginative as to get the moon into your very hands? Would you use magic or science, brains or imagination? “Many Moons,” written by James Thurber, is a tale about a girl who dreams big. She’s not exactly you’re average ten year old, she doesn’t want dolls or clothes, she wants the moon. This story is a story of magic and wonder. “Many Moons” is a romance.
This story of dream and wonder is a romance for many different reasons. It starts with a mild conflict, the Princess Lenore falls ill. She is bed ridden, yet her imagination doesn’t fall ill with her, she says if she can have the moon she will be well again. This leads us to the next mild conflict of romance. The second conflict is that, candidly, no one, not even the King’s wise men, can get the moon for Princess Lenore. The Court Jester is the one who asks the little princess how she believes you can get the moon, how large it is, how it grows back into place. In reality, for her age, Princess Lenore is wiser than the King’s “wise” men. It ends in a “new beginning,” not only is Princess Lenore well again, she has opened the King’s eyes so that he now knows to use his imagination and not always rely on his Wizard, Mathematician, or the Lord High Chamberlain to get him what he wants.
There are many characters in “Many Moons.” When the King was perturbed about the Princess seeing the moon, as she believed it to be around her neck, it was the Court Jester who came to a prudent answer. James Thurber wrote the Jester to say this, “Who could explain how to get the moon when your wise men said it was too large and too far away? It was the Princess Lenore. Therefore the Princess Lenore is wiser than your wise men and knows more about the moon than they do.” This portrays the Court Jester to be sage; he’s good at solving problems, at looking at things from a different perspective. The King’s Court Jester is really the wisest of the wise men. The Court Jester may be the wisest of the wise men, but it is Princess Lenore who is truly the wisest of all of them. She thinks in a way none of them could, in a way that the Mathematician wouldn’t even consider to be true. She actually used her imagination to solve the problem that the wise men’s science and calculations could not comprehend. The Princess was like a small Olympic runner who won the race over the large muscular guys.
There are many symbols in “Many Moons.” One very obvious symbolic object is the moon. All of the imagination, calculation, dream, everything from the story is based around the moon. It is symbolic to the story itself, but it is also symbolic to imagination. The lute that the Court Jester plays is a symbol also. This item is symbolic to the problem solving that takes place in the story. The Jester would play the lute every time he spoke his thoughts; his thoughts were basically the solution to every mild problem they ran into. Some symbols to bring up are the many lists that the wise men had. It shows the greed behind the magic and dream; the greed which belongs to the King. The final symbols are the words “Sorry my wife wrote that in there.” These words, said by all of the wise men show that even though they are at a royal court, they still, every night, go back to their normal life, with their wife.
Every fairy tale starts with “Once upon a time” these exact words are in “Many Moons.” Thought it doesn’t end with “and so, they all lived happily ever after,” the story “Many Moons” is in fact a fairy tale. It has all of a fairy tale’s elements from “Once upon a time,” to the capturing of the moon. All in all this is a wondrous fantasy of magic and galore.
This story of dream and wonder is a romance for many different reasons. It starts with a mild conflict, the Princess Lenore falls ill. She is bed ridden, yet her imagination doesn’t fall ill with her, she says if she can have the moon she will be well again. This leads us to the next mild conflict of romance. The second conflict is that, candidly, no one, not even the King’s wise men, can get the moon for Princess Lenore. The Court Jester is the one who asks the little princess how she believes you can get the moon, how large it is, how it grows back into place. In reality, for her age, Princess Lenore is wiser than the King’s “wise” men. It ends in a “new beginning,” not only is Princess Lenore well again, she has opened the King’s eyes so that he now knows to use his imagination and not always rely on his Wizard, Mathematician, or the Lord High Chamberlain to get him what he wants.
There are many characters in “Many Moons.” When the King was perturbed about the Princess seeing the moon, as she believed it to be around her neck, it was the Court Jester who came to a prudent answer. James Thurber wrote the Jester to say this, “Who could explain how to get the moon when your wise men said it was too large and too far away? It was the Princess Lenore. Therefore the Princess Lenore is wiser than your wise men and knows more about the moon than they do.” This portrays the Court Jester to be sage; he’s good at solving problems, at looking at things from a different perspective. The King’s Court Jester is really the wisest of the wise men. The Court Jester may be the wisest of the wise men, but it is Princess Lenore who is truly the wisest of all of them. She thinks in a way none of them could, in a way that the Mathematician wouldn’t even consider to be true. She actually used her imagination to solve the problem that the wise men’s science and calculations could not comprehend. The Princess was like a small Olympic runner who won the race over the large muscular guys.
There are many symbols in “Many Moons.” One very obvious symbolic object is the moon. All of the imagination, calculation, dream, everything from the story is based around the moon. It is symbolic to the story itself, but it is also symbolic to imagination. The lute that the Court Jester plays is a symbol also. This item is symbolic to the problem solving that takes place in the story. The Jester would play the lute every time he spoke his thoughts; his thoughts were basically the solution to every mild problem they ran into. Some symbols to bring up are the many lists that the wise men had. It shows the greed behind the magic and dream; the greed which belongs to the King. The final symbols are the words “Sorry my wife wrote that in there.” These words, said by all of the wise men show that even though they are at a royal court, they still, every night, go back to their normal life, with their wife.
Every fairy tale starts with “Once upon a time” these exact words are in “Many Moons.” Thought it doesn’t end with “and so, they all lived happily ever after,” the story “Many Moons” is in fact a fairy tale. It has all of a fairy tale’s elements from “Once upon a time,” to the capturing of the moon. All in all this is a wondrous fantasy of magic and galore.
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