The other day, I started thinking about some children's stories and songs that actually are quite disturbing. Now, I'm not one who says children should only be spoonfed sweetness and light and joy and cheer. Where would we be without Huck Finn and Treasure Island and Hansel and Gretel and Captain Hook? (Understand that I'm speaking from the point of view of a kid who used to be terrified of Snow White's witch and the villains in Nancy Drew. I'm not saying kids shouldn't be kept from frightening things until they can handle them.) Outright danger and adventure are great. What weirds me out is thinking of how some things that aren't considered scary are actually not as sweet as they sound:
~Never-Never-Land. I loved the story when I was little, but now the idea of the place creeps me out. Sounds ominous.
~Do you know the line from Les Mis's "Castle on a Cloud"?
"...Nobody shouts or talks to loud....Crying at all is not allowed...Not in my castle on a cloud."
What kind of place is that for children? Children are supposed to shout. I guess they might not want to cry, but to me now, a place where crying was not allowed would not be nice. (I suppose that since every tear will be wiped from our eyes in Heaven that in a sense crying will not be a part of Heaven, yet I don't remember readint the Scripture as a mandate against crying.) A good cry can fix a lot, as I'm sure many of my public can attest. :-)
Hmm..so much for my piles of examples. I seem to have run out quite suddenly. I guess that's all that are on my mind for the moment. Apologize for the incoherentness. :-)
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4 comments:
Hi Bria!
I really enjoy your blog! I know what you mean about disturbing children's stories and such... I was intrigued by this phenomenon in nursery rhymes especially (London Bridge, Jack and Jill, the old woman who lived in a shoe, etc.), and I was going to write a paper in high school on the history of such tragic tunes. Sadly, I couldn't find enough sources. Maybe there's more information by now, and someday I'll pick it up again when I'm bored and feel like doing a research project for fun (but it's amazing how infrequently that seems to happen...).
Have a great day!
Melissa
ooo! I know another example! Ring-around-the-Rosie - all about the plague or the black death or whatever it was. Ewww!
Blast, the plague was what I was gonna use...
Hi Bria
I will admit, it does feel a little strange when I do sing that to Lexie.
Kind of hope she isn't catching on to the scariness of the words.
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