Analyzing Fairy Tales through the Psychological/Child Development Lens

Vivian Nix-Early, Ph.D.

(20%ofGrade)
TitleofFairyTale:TheThreeFeathersAuthor:GRIMMStudent:SanoviaGarrett

1. What childhood developmental issue(s), task(s), universal problem(s) or existential

questions are addressed, portrayed or symbolized in the tale?
(10 pts) ______
There are a few that initially came to mind after reading the story. One universal problem I
noticed was what Bettelheim (1976) described as the inherent nature of man to act selfishly,
aggressively, asocially, out of anger and anxiety (p. 7). This struggle is against parents who desire to
keep a positive image of man as always good with the internal struggle of a child understanding and
knowing through experience that they are not always good. Fairy tales help this cognitive struggle by
introducing the child to Freuds prescription. This prescription being that the only way to overcome
odds is by creating meaning from everyday circumstances (p. 8). Piagets Stages of Development
occurred throughout the tale within different characters. The first developmental stage is the
sensorimotor stage which is characterized by the child beginning to interact with the world. I see this in
Simpleton and his two brothers as they are sent out. Although this can be seen as a later (autonomy)
stage I am tying it into this experience because it is where the tale begins. Stage two can be seen the
two brothers display egocentrism in not being able to take the point of view of their father. Simpleton
embodied stage three when he returned to the same spot without following the feather the third time
(logical thinking) and stage four is the last line of the tale saying that he ruled wisely for a long time.
2. How does the tale begin where the child is?
(5 pts) _____
The tale begins as stated above literally with the childs interaction with the world, but besides a
deeper analytical look the tale begins with a child whose name--Simpleton-- does not speak to any
specific race. Although there is a gender specified, the name still gives way to the connection with young
girls as well. The details of Simpleton are that he (or she) is the youngest and has a father (possible
grandparents) who are nearing their end of life. This highlights a childs position in relation to siblings
and a parent, even possibly a single parent home. Many children are the youngest and have adults who are
aging around them. Another characteristic of Simpleton is that his name is an expression of who he
is--dumb, simple, not as smart. Being small in a world of big people is intimidating and because this is
exactly where a child is in listening to or reading these tales, they meet them directly at the point of
their existence.
3. What are the dangers or obstacles confronted?
(5 pts) ______
One of the most difficult aspects of being young is that you have a worldview that older people
are closer to death than you are. I believe that one of the greatest obstacles confronted was the fear
of losing a loved one. Alongside that fear was the responsibility to not get as far as others in the
journey. For Simpleton the obstacle to overcome his sadness at his feather stopping not far from home
was evident in that he sat and was sad. He overcomes that by looking around and finding a solution (the
trapdoor). A danger in that trapdoor was the unknown of what was beneath the surface. The last
obstacle confronted that I will mention is the use of a feather as a leader. I equated this to completing

tasks that warranted a new or unusual leader. Maybe this leader could be a person, teacher/preacher, a
friend or the feather could be learning about religion.
4. How does the tale make its characters universal rather than unique?
(5) ______

Again, the name Simpleton is not necessarily sex-driven and the brothers and father do not get a
name. The toad, nature, and mice could be anyone that the child encounters along life's journey. By using
nature you make connections with what a child has more connection with than adults have unlearned to
connect with. The characters are also universal in that they do not fall in between any unique character
category. What I mean is that like Bettelheim (1976) says polarization dominates the childs mind . This
helps the child to understand that juxtaposition between opposites like good and bad, ugly or pretty, or
smart or dumb. Finally, the story is not connected to any specific culture, area or belief system (at least
overtly anyway).
5. How does the tale project the child into another time and place?
(5 pts) ______
Simpleton goes into another time and place when he enters the underground trapdoor that leads
to a reality that involves speaking toads who have carpets, mice who turn into horses and a little toad
who turns into a young woman.
Also, the familiarity of the phrase Once upon a time signals to the child that this time is not in
congruence with where they are currently.
6. In what ways does the tale speak to the childs fears and anxieties?
(5 pts) ______
The fear of losing a loved one or parent ( see question 3). Another fear of Simpletons was his
taking the world on his own to find something that he was easily deemed as being impossible to find. Even
though he had a feather to follow, Simpleton had a bout of separation anxiety as soon as his journey
began. Bettelheim (1976) states that there is no greater threat in life than that we will be deserted,
left all alone (p. 145). For Freud this was deemed in psychoanalysis as mans greatest fear. This fear
was met by a proverbial way of escape through a door in the ground. This is what would be considered
as hope in the world (illuminating the importance of fairy tales happy endings) and hope for somewhere
in time there being something or someone to help you in the midst of trouble.
Another fear I noticed was the fear of the brothers. Both brothers feared their brothing winning
because of their beliefs that their brother was too dumb to be King. This fear, though not explicitly
stated could be inferred by a child who may be a little past the stage of being able to make connections.
One may also say they were jealous or mean. For a child they could look at this as the fear of others
being better than them so they continually make strives to one-up.
How are the parts of the child's mind or personality represented?
7. How does this tale speak to the wishes of the id?
a. Who/What embodies/symbolizes the destructive wishes of the id (child's
destructive instincts)?
(5 pts) ______
b. Who/What symbolizes the child's pleasure-seeking instincts?
(5 pts) ______
The brothers symbolize the immediate pleasure-seeking and destructive need of achieving results
quickly and jealously. The brothers in their journeys decided not to work, but to bring back the first
thing they stumbled upon. They cheated their ways out of bringing back valuable gifts to their father &
replaced it with things that could bring momentary satisfaction, but no longevity. Children often go after
the first thing they see if they and have lazy tendencies. The brothers also symbolize the selfishness of

wanting to win. This reminds me of the childs tendency to say mine, mine!. Sharon Heller (2005) stated
that as the child learns that she must attend to and learn the rules of the real world or pay the
consequences, primary process thinking becomes less prominent (p. 91).
Pleasure seeking isnt always a negative thing (although according to Freuds definition my statement
would be false). I would also say that Simpletons desire to win was also consisted of pleasure seeking
principles. As soon as the journey began and his feather fell close to home he became sad because I am
sure he wanted a different outcome (east or west). When children go after their goals, they are, too,
seeking to fulfill a need they have to win/overcome/be the victor.
8. Does the tale suggest
solutions(s)
that both gratify and recognize the pleasure-seeking
and aggressive impulses within the bounds of reality?
(5 pts) ______
The two peasant women who were brought by the brothers seeking easy gratification both
completed the same task that the most beautiful woman completed but their end result was broken
thick arms and legs. This punishment, while not being the most humane, is realistic in that people do
break bones and that in society justice and punishments are a staple in everyday society. If you do
something wrong there are implications of those actions. I believe this thickness in the arms and legs
signifies the principle of needing and wanting MORE but not truly putting in effort for the task. The
solution seems to be that those who choose this route will never win. Three times they challenged their
father and lost. The gratification for Simpletons aim to fulfill his desires resulted in him as a King with
a wife, horses and a future legacy to build.
9. Who in the tale might the child's ego (positive self) identify with?
(5 pts) ______
According to Bettelheim, the two brothers signified a depleted ego, one that is cut-off from
the sources of deeper pleasures and higher thinking [(superego and the id) Bettelheim 1976, p. 108).
Essentially, they based their decision-making upon their own cleverness. This reminds me of the
scripture that says to lean not to your own understanding, but in all your ways acknowledge him and he
will direct your paths. This brings me back to the feather representing a religion or leader of some sort
(see question 3). They, however, do not reflect the positive self. The positive self can be shown by
Simpleton making wiser decisions. The ego, when it is the dominant factor in decision-making, leads to
more control of our actions which is far different from being blinded by pride (Heller 2005, p. 92). A
child can identify with this when deciding on whether or not they will follow a crowd into a dangerous
space or maybe talk-back to a teacher. I see the ego helping in building positive relationships between
children and adults.

10. Who in the tale might the child's super-ego (conscience) identify with?
(5 pts) ______
The superego aligns with our moral compass. I am not sure that there was a character in the
story that really fulfilled the role of the super-ego. I did not see a character who felt overly guilty
about a decision or a character that judges, condemns, rewards, and punishes, a part of the personality
that is built up from ones actual experiences with childhood authority figures (Heller 1976, p. 93). If
anything I may be able to attribute the superego as being the father/reigning King. The father was the
main character that came to a judgment, rewarded and by nature, punished the brothers who did not get
the kingdom.

11. How does the tale portray integrations of the personality (e.g., balance of pleasure
seeking (id) and reality seeking (ego) principles acceptance of weak as well as
resourceful parts of the self gaining mastery and moving forward in life)?
(5 pts) ____
The tale portrays the integration of the personality through Simpletons powerful use of his ego
to adapt to the demands of his father, social interaction with new people and memory in learning from
past experiences (returning to the same place before the feather). The pleasure principle is also present
in his natural response to being sent out (crying). If the baby is born all id ( Heller 2005, p. 91) than
the instinctual urge to cry or react is attached to that portion of the self.
There is also an integration experience that happens with the tale that is described by
Bettelheim (1976). Bettelheim says that based upon psychoanalysis, we can assume that the works of
art, being the ordinary objects gifted to Simpleton, are a part of the unconscious, with the super ego's
assistance in placing value to the objects and that is is the ego forces which execute the unconscious
and conscious ideas that enter into the creation of a work of art (p. 109).
12.What kinds of transformations occur?
(5 pts) ______
There is a transition of Simpleton to King. This is similar to a child going through life and the
barriers they face and eventually becoming what they set out to become. I believe this is the most
important transformation of the tale because it shows how the fool becomes the smarter one in the
story by finding some magic object (or place consumed by magic) helps to beat out the other siblings,
in turn allowing the underdog to become the victor (Bettelheim 1976, p. 73). There is also a
transformation of mice to horses, a turnip into a coach and a toad that transforms into the most
beautiful woman. This signifies the transition from what appears as nothing into something that leads to
a victory.
The next transition may be a bit of a reach, but the brothers also transitioned from the protestors to
the surrendered. The brothers, after all of the tests, could not deny any longer that Simpletons destiny
was for him and not for them. This could allude to a motif that implies destiny and benefits for the
person who works harder than their competition.
13. How are inner resources represented and used to overcome obstacles.
(10 pts) ______

I am not sure I completely understand the phrase inner resources, but I would say that the
brothers used their own sense of knowing to solve their obstacles while Simpleton navigated toward a
place of being instinctively led and by learning from experiences created an internal compass that was
easy to reference each time he returned on a mission. As he went along the inner resources that helped
him to overcome were the toad, the feather and the beautiful woman. These all played a role in becoming
the problem-solving agents that were needed to lead and to give solutions to the problems. The feather
led him to the place of worry, that soon became the place of supply. The toad was the supplier who
basically granted his every wish and the woman became the final leg of the race when she jumped
through the hoop in the hallway.
I believe the feather represented following unusual leadership or the feeling of leaving home
without much to go on. The toad represented a place of comfort and guidance. The woman represented
the happy ending that only transpired through follow-through and consistency.

14. How does the tale use polarizations and opposite traits, which help the child sort out
feelings before integration? (
5 pts) ______
At the very beginning of the tale the descriptors of the brothers in comparison to Simpleton was
simple minded and clever/intelligent. Before integration there is a clear distinction of the cognitive
abilities of Simpleton in comparison to his brothers. In school, will easily be able to distinguish
themselves between the smart and dumb or the popular and nerdy.
15. Where is the hope in the tale? How are growth, self-confidence and progress in life
portrayed or symbolized?
(10 pts) ______
Hope is portrayed in the character who transitions from a nobody to a somebody.
Hope is portrayed in the character who navigates his sadness through problem-solving.
Hope is portrayed in humanity or others as the toad helps Simpleton to get the point of success
in winning the kingdom.
Hope is portrayed in those who transcend their current circumstances.
Self-confidence, growth and progress are seen as the characters who gradually begin to make
connections about past experiences and can now excel to another level (again, transcendance).

16. What important message(s) does the tale carry that the unconscious can receive and
interpret?
(5 pts) ______
The message I received after reading the tale was that victory only comes to those who take the
route unlike the others. Of course I feel as if a child would say that completely different, but
altogether it means that the only way to win is by being fair, and as a result, receiving favor for your
fairness.
I also believe that the unconscious can note that there are repercussions/benefits to the
decisions that one makes, and in fact, these do not only affect you, but can affect others around you.
Finally, I believe that the tale is suggesting that chance will not always allow you to win.
Sometimes it takes actual skill and effort to become the King. This is symbolized by the beautiful woman
(as a reflection of Simpleton) as being the victor due to her skill alone.
Optional Bonus Questions: Comment on the symbolism of 1) any magical objects and/or 2)
the use of threes in the tale.
(8 points total) ______

In regards to the use of magic I believe that what Bettelheim (1976) says about the
childs need for magic is very accurate. He says that fairy tales have this influence to allow a
child to grasp a view of life and human nature that is only implied and not directly spelled out (p.
45). Adult reasoning is like Charlie Browns blah, blah, blah speech in the midst of lifes
struggles. Their need for magic is sufficed in this tale through the door to another reality filled
with carpets, rings and beautiful women. These magical objects give way to their understanding of
reality.
As far as the use of threes in the tale, the title says it all: The Three Feathers, three brothers,
three tasks and an impromptu fourth. This number is used to symbolically be interpreted as the

id, ego, and superego.

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