Reading Notes: Japanese Fairy Tales, Part A

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The Girl with the Wooden Helmet (Wikimedia)


Reading Notes: Japanese Fairy Tales, Part A

The Stonecutter:

  • I like how the spirit acts almost like an omnipotent narrator, interjecting into the story. It could be interesting to retell this story with the spirit as the narrator. Could add more of a commentary element on the actions of the man with this.
  • I find it interesting that the man was bringing a gravestone to the house of a rich man who he then envied, without considering the reality of why he might be bringing a gravestone to this person. Excellent foreshadowing. I would like to include elements like this in my own stories but I am never sure how authors invent aspects of their stories like this
  • Theme of gluttony or excess here, keeps asking for more
  • I like the plot development here where the protagonist continually ascends to mightier and mightier beings. Very similar to a passage from Paulo Coelho’s The Alchemist when the protagonist becomes one with the universe. I don’t like the theme the story presents at the end though, it seems to have just missed the mark, or at least present the positive idea of being happy with who you are in a negative light. Could possibly retell this with an altered ending.
The Maiden with the Wooden Helmet:

  • This is an interesting story with an excellent plot structure, but I am again dissatisfied with the ending and general theme. I have a hard time with finding anything to be learned from this story but I think it lends itself to the importance of loving someone for more than outward appearance. I think this story could be retold really well with the idea that the girl wore the helmet so no one could notice her beauty. Then maybe the people of the place she works are dismissive of her or mean to her but because she works hard she tends to the sick wife. Then when the son returns he gets to know her through this, they fall in love, and when the helmet splits at their wedding the whole town is astonished at the beauty of the bride that the prince had seen the entire time.
Bibliography

The Violet Fairy Book by Andrew Lang 

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