Essay #2

Fariy-tales

            From childhood we dream and discover.  Dreams of being a beautiful princess, a scary dragon, or an undersea adventurer, drift through our minds.  Discovering a volcano in the form of baking soda or walking on the beach when dad puts the sand box next to the pool.  As a child we have it all.  There is no worry or fear.  After all, if anything happens we always have our wonderful fairy god mother who will help us.  We can be who we want to be.  Our imagination can take us anywhere.  Just think, who do we want to be and where do we want to go next…

            The reality-- an alarm clock buzzing in my ears at five o’clock in the morning. I need to get in the shower.  I have to make breakfast.  The kids need a bath.  The dog needs to be walked.  I need to get lunches ready.  Everyone needs to be fed. The kids need to get on the bus.  Finally, I am now ready to go to work.  Life hits fast.  There is no more time for foolish fun and games.  Though we have outgrown the fun and adventures, we can only hope that our children can experience the same.  It is now their turn to dream and discover, just as I did.  Although, sometimes, I just have to play along.

            I read the poem, “Fairy-tale Logic” by A.E. Stallings.  The poem at first glance is about the impossible tasks in the fairy-tale world.  One might read it and say, “Oh, this is a cute poem.”  But what does this poem really mean?  What was the speaker trying to portray?  My thought… this poem is really about reality, sincerity, and conformity.

            The very first line in this poem is, “Fairy-tales are full of impossible tasks:” (Line 1)  Now, this is true and the speaker goes on to give more detail and even shares examples.  I believe this first line is about our lives individually.  If I could rewrite the first line into words, I would say, “Choosing a road and following it is full of impossible tasks.”  The speaker is telling us that whatever path we have chosen, the world is about to put some hurdles in our way.  I’ll explain it this way.  I have personal morals or beliefs, we all do.  The extent and gray areas are completely up to me and God.  A friend shares a popular belief with many people that, you can go out and have fun with a married man behind his wife’s back, as long as you don’t sleep with him.  I don’t believe that this is right, but I am pressured by the majority, therefore making this something I have to deal with.

            The speaker’s voice adds a touch of humor as he goes on, “Select the prince from a row of identical masks.” (Line 4)  Can you picture this?  We are at an elegant ball.  There are women standing around in their gorgeous gowns; people dancing and spinning on a luxurious marble floor.  All of a sudden we see a string of men all dressed so nicely, walk up to the platform and stand there, identical with their masks.  This represents the decisions we have in life.  Although we have decisions, some may look identical.  How will we know if we are choosing right or wrong?  Is this my decision, based on what I know and believe or could this be what everyone else wants me to decide?  Each prince represents a different decision that has been place before us.  Some choices may look the same, but may also have very subtle consequences underneath the mask.

            In the second stanza the voice of the speaker is intent on showing us the reason for this poem.  Within the first line in the second stanza, the speaker says this, “You have to fight magic with magic.” (Line 7)  This is an impossible task.  This is like melting an ice cube by using another ice cube.  Where does this get you?  Nowhere.  As the wands are drawn, one will not prevail over the other.  They must both equally give up or live fighting forever.  When the speaker talks about this, he makes it clear that if we want to win the fight we have to think outside the box.  If I decide what I am going to do by just giving in and living by everyone else’s standards and morals, I did not win.  Inside I will continue to have a longing of what I feel is right and I will have to live with that forever.  As a child if we were playing a game and it was a wizard against a wizard, someone would end up making something up that would beat a wizard.  Picture two chubby little boys in a sand box playing.  They have peanut butter on their faces from lunch and walk shoeless to this big sandbox.  They draw their sticks… Oops, I mean wands and battle for hours.  Finally one says, “I am no longer a wizard Jimmy, I am a WISEard, he is the macho wizard with even more power to destroy you.”   The game then can actually be over and the boys could move on.  This is what the speaker wants us to do.  Move on, don’t let others tell you what is right, do what you know is right.

            “The will to do whatever must be done:” is the second to the last line in the poem.  At this point the speaker is just being straight forward.  Am I just trying to do whatever needs to be done in order to satisfy the people around me?  Maybe I will do whatever it takes to blend in.  Whatever the reason, the speaker’s tone is sincere.  He is heartbroken that we try to figure out what to do and struggle to find our voice and place.  What needs to be done in order for me to find popularity?  What needs to be done in order for me to get this promotion?  What needs to be done in order for me to understand my family?

            The struggle of decisions in this life is hard to balance.  We need to find our own voice out of the many voices that tell us what would be best.  We need to discover our place and know that the decisions we make should be for us, not the people around us.  The speaker in this poem said that we should not conform to make others happy, especially when in our hearts we know what’s right.  We should be sincere about our choices and think realistically about them.   After all, we are the ones that live with our choices every day.                      

Works Cited

Stallings, A.E.  “Fairy-tale Logic.”  Poetryfoundation.org.  Poetry, 2010.  Web.  12 September 2011.