fairy tales and super heroes

October 13, 2011

I just finished reading book two in the Sword of Truth series, Stone of Tears. and it’s got me thinking.

[If you haven’t read Stone of Tears you should stop right now because what follows is full of spoilers. If you have, or if you never plan on reading it than proceed…]

Because awful, awful, horrendous, horrible things happen in that book. Revolting violations and deepest betrayals and prophecies of pain and torment come to fruition. I mean there’s good things too, but there’s all of that.

And yet, at the end, I can almost say I liked the book. I forgive a lot of the atrocities (which if you know the books could be a whole interesting tangent about turning swords white but that’s beside the point). I’m kind of bothered by myself that I do, because horrible things like that shouldn’t be lauded. But it’s such a tangled mix of good story telling and good characters and even good moments offset by dreadful ones.

LEGEND OF THE SEEKER Tears 2x22 Emily Baldoni as Sister Nicci ABC Studios
LEGEND OF THE SEEKER – Tears 2×22 | Emily Baldoni as Sister Nicci (ABC Studios)

But it also got me thinking about Tolkien and his definition of fairy tale: “[Fairy tales] end not in universal failure and ultimate defeat but in eucatastrophe, a good calamity. This disaster acknowledges the reality of death and destruction, but it reveals the finality of Joy”.

I would never go so far as to say Stone of Tears is anything like a fairy tale because even in their darkness there is something high and beautiful about fairy tales. Even dark magic has a beauty to it and destruction evokes grief but it’s a purifying sort of grief, a recognition of nobility or valor or something. The Sword of Truth is far from the Lord of the Rings where terrible things also happen. But they aren’t vile sorts of terrible things; they are hardship and danger and sacrifice. Maybe that’s one of the distinctions, Goodkind’s stories have a vile element to them most fairy tales lack. And I don’t know if there is a purpose he has in writing that or if it’s evidence of lazy writing because it’s easy to disturb when you make something as intimate as sex an ugly thing – again and again in a variety of ways. But you also can’t deny the pervasive redemption in the Sword of Truth or it’s unwillingness to offer anything other than an ultimate happy ending.

LEGEND OF THE SEEKER Extinction 2x19 Bruce Spence as Zeddicus Zul Zorander Tabrett Bethell as Cara Mason Bridget Regan as Kahlan Amnell Craig Horner as Richard Cypher ABC Studios
LEGEND OF THE SEEKER – Extinction 2×19 | Bruce Spence as Zeddicus Zu’l Zorander, Tabrett Bethell as Cara Mason, Bridget Regan as Kahlan Amnell, Craig Horner as Richard Cypher — (ABC Studios)

There’s a similarity there, in their willingness to walk dark paths because it ends up in bright places, that reminds me of super heroes. I heard Jim Krueger speak once and he talked about the necessity of suffering in super hero stories. They show that suffering has a purpose, the pain and loss and sacrifice the hero endures gives them the strength and opportunity to be a force of good – usually in a much bigger way than they could have imagined. These stories embrace suffering as a mode of transformation which leads to greatness.

And we love them because the effect isn’t confined to the story.

Fairy tales and super hero movies both show us there is light and goodness on the other side of suffering and hardship and pain. And in doing so, they help us survive. Because even if we don’t know what our suffering leads to, like knowing the end of the book, they tell us it’s going to be happy ending, and we believe them. Or else why would we keep reading them?

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2 responses to “the place where fairy tales and super heroes meet

  1. Lori

    This is beautiful and applies to life in general I think, not just fairy tales. I think in some ways stories take the tragedies shared by human kind and just focus them on a family or people so the magnitude is greater. But if we humans are a family, we shouldn’t need that focusing. It’s too easy to dismiss the suffering of one far away but almost universally, dark tragedy leads to light. People come together, communities are rebuilt etc etc.

    Have you read/ seen Game of Thrones? This spoke so poignantly at one point I thought you were talking about that series: Goodkind’s stories have a vile element to them most fairy tales lack. And I don’t know if there is a purpose he has in writing that or if it’s evidence of lazy writing because it’s easy to disturb when you make something as intimate as sex an ugly thing –again and again in a variety of ways.

    I saw that a lot in that series and thought kind of the same thing. But I can’t wait to see if there is redemption at the end.

    Althoug if there’s not, I’m going to be pissed.

    • Annie

      I have not read Game of Thrones. I read the synopsis for all the books on wikipedia and was kind of intrigued until I got to all the “lazy writing” (for lack of a better term) that you mentioned. And then when I found out certain characters died and who stood up in their place I lost all respect for George Martin and don’t think for a second his story is going to turn out well and therefore refuse to start it. I hope for your sake I’m wrong 🙂
      Also, you should TOTALLY ready Finnikan of the Rock by Melina Marchetta. More pain but without it being ugly and a lot of honor and strength and endurance and fascinating, wonderful women.