Fairy Tales 2010

Wednesday, March 31, 2010

Iron Hans: Responsibility

I feel the overall moral of Iron Hans is that one must learn how to take responsibility for their actions. The king's son looses his ball. He can leave the ball in the cage and take responsibility for loosing it. He could also tell his parents and get help from them. Instead he chooses to deal with it on his own. When he gets his ball back, he realizes that he will get in trouble for letting the prisoner free and leaves with the prisoner to avoid taking responsibility for what he has done. When Iron Hans asks the kid to guard the spring, the kid fails three times and doesn't take responsibility for what has happened. He tries desperately to hide his failure and is kicked out of the forest because of it. When the kid gets to the kingdom, he still doesn't take responsibility for he has done. He tries to hide his hair because it reminds him of his inability to handle responsibility. His growth into a man is shown through his decision to complete selfless deeds for the kingdom and through the fact that he doesn't take on a character focused upon greed. He finally takes responsibility for his actions when he tells the truth to the king and no longer attempts to hide behind the cap on his head.

1 comment:

  1. I agree, it is a lesson in responsibility. The characters should not be dismissed or forgiven just because they are stupid. Stupidity does not equate with lack of responsibility or of humility. Foolishness may make them more frustrating, but it does not make them any less human than their intelligent counterparts. Their faults, just like those of the brilliant, are faults of character not intellect.

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