Haroun And The Sea Of Stories: A Literary Analysis
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The children’s stories of Cinderella, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, and Haroun and the Sea of Stories support the concepts that while happy endings are rare, they are realistic outcomes. Each story aims to tell children that they should work for their own happiness because everything they need or desire will not fall into their laps. The fairy tale-type of Cinderella and the children’s novels by Rushdie and Dahl inoculate children from recognizing the realities of their existence through idealistic happy endings. Many children’s stories are designed to conlude with the “happily ever after” ending in order to make the reader happy and hopeful about the character’s life. This in turn make the reader feel similarly regarding her own fate..…show more content… The Walrus reveals that happy endings are not meant for everyone. It is the insinuation of a happy ending for the reader that convinces children their happiness will fall right into their laps. Some stories or lives will not be perfect and will not have the story-book ending of which everyone so desperately wishes; they may avoid the disillusionment of entering reality from a fairy tale universe. In reality, most people must work for what they desire because adults cannot simply sit and hope that one day walking down the street they will bump into their true love who also happens to be exceptionally handsome and rich. In the real world one cannot expect a mysterious donor to pay off her student loans. It is solely up to the individual to make the most out of her life. “‘It is precisely because happy endings are so rare,’ the Walrus continued, ‘that we at P2C2E House have learnt how to synthesize them artificially. In plain language: we can make them up,’” (Rushdie 201). Rushdie is telling the reader that because happy endings are so rare, a person’s best option is create their own happy ending. Children should then work to recognize that the fairy tale world is not the only world out there and that they should take advantage of all opportunities afforded them in the pursuit of