Topic > Ethics in Pinocchio, Snow White and other children's literature

IndexIntroductionWhat is ethics?Tremendous ethical problemsInternal struggle and power imbalanceConclusionWorks CitedIntroductionEthics has a double meaning. First, ethics is based on standards of right and wrong that prescribe what human beings do in terms of right, obligations, benefits to society, and fairness. Ethics refers to those standards that impose the logical obligation to refrain from rape, theft, murder, violation, and fraud. Ethical standards also refer to those who enjoy honesty, sincerity and kindness. Ethical standards include standards related to rights, such as the right to life, the right to liberty, and the right to privacy. These standards are adequate standards because they are supported by coherent and well-founded reasons. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay Secondly, ethics refers to the study and development of one's standards. Feelings, laws and social norms can deviate from what is ethical. Therefore, it is important to constantly review your standards to ensure they are reasonable and well-founded. As Abraham Lincoln said, “As I would not be a slave, so I would not be a master.” This expresses my idea of ​​democracy. What differs from this, to the extent of the difference, is not democracy. «This research paper deals with ethics in children's literature. The stories used for this article are The Big Friendly Giant, Pinocchio, Snow White, Little Red Riding Hood, The Rainbow Fish and Urashima Taro and the Turtle. The research question for this article is: “To what extent do some characters struggle with a problematic ethical attitude, and how might this internal struggle lead to a power imbalance? Consequently, the thesis chosen for this article is: "Some characters in the story have tremendous ethical problems that lead to internal struggle and an imbalance of power." In this article, the chosen fairy tale characters encounter many problems. Therefore, they have huge ethical problems. Despite the different reasons behind their ethical problems, in most of the stories, the characters in the story actually manage to overcome the moral problems and live their lives. What is ethics? Ethics are not primary regarding sex, they are not based on religion, they are not relative to the society in which one lives. live inside and ethics are not good in theory. So the question is: what is ethics? There should be a distinction between living by what people judge to be the right ethical standards and living by what people judge to be the wrong ethical standards. After hearing the word ethics, we might think about who believes it is wrong to lie, cheat, steal, and so on, and who does not. We have found that people who do not live by conditional ethical standards and believe for some reason that they are doing nothing wrong, then they live by ethical standards. When a person is doing something wrong in our opinion, but can justify his actions, it shows that he lives by ethical standards. The justification must be of some kind. For example, the self-interest justification is not good. When Macbeth thought killing Duncan so he could become king was not justified. Since ancient times, philosophers have argued that ethics is accepted from a somewhat universal point of view. The Golden Rule attributed to Moses, contained in the book of Leviticus and also linked to Jesus tells us: "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you" - in other words it means to be kind to others as you want them to be kind with you. The Stoics in Roman times argued that ethics derives from natural lawuniversal. The idea was developed in the hands of a man called Kent and his idea was to 'Act upon that one maxim by which one can at the same time will what must become a universal law.' The question is, can we derive an ethical theory from this universal aspect that guides us about what is right and what is wrong? Many philosophers have tried to do this, but without a general consensus. The problem is that if we try to describe the aspect of ethics in ways formal, one will find a wide range of ethical theories already developed previously; on the other hand, if you try to leave out your description of universal ethics you will be accused of contradicting your beliefs on this topic. After the end of the Second World War, the choice of books for young people increased books include topics on ethical issues, the present and what happens around them, allowing children and adolescents to start thinking about these issues. In Claudia Mills' essay her new text Ethics and Children's Literature indicates that history of children's literature is based on hope that these stories change readers to become better. This assumption about the power of literature to change its readers to become better may present a dilemma. The child reader is sometimes unable to understand the moral of the story. Therefore, an adult must value this aspect. Ethical methods determine what individual human beings want or what is "right" for them to do. According to Rawls, "Both ethics and politics are distinguished from the positive sciences because their special and primary objective is to determine what ought to be, and not to ascertain what simply is, has been, or will be." strong relationship between morality and motivation. People not only look for the item but also do the right thing for good reasons. In fact, we are often willing to forgive someone for doing bad things if it is for the right reasons. Ruth Grant argues that there are two very different types of motivation: incentive and praise. Incentive motivation uses the “If-then” method. They set expectations before the activity is attempted. The message is: if you do something for me, then I will do something for you. Praise motivation works differently. Use the “Now-that” method. They acknowledge a job well done after the task is completed. Now that you have done something well, they will admit your success. Plaisance shows in her book how communication interacts with the practice of care and how the ethic of care informs communication and media by issuing a moral injunction to maintain relationships. Plaisance states that “the ethic emphasizes the significance of pregnancy as a form of mediated communication, infant relationships and the gender dynamics of caregiving in the development of communication skill, as well as the role that communication plays in shaping the ethics of care as a moral orientation". '. Here Plaisance explains how pregnancy affects communication with others, how the relationship between the sexes helps develop communication skills, and how communication has played a role in shaping ethical care as a moral direction. In the book Ingresso di Story Crago argues that the brain tells readers the preference for stories based on emotions or those based on reason, and is linked to age. Although Maria Nikolajeva does not fully adhere to Crago's model, Maria's article shows how children and young readers can find a balance between emotions and ethics. Crago's argument is based on Iain McGlichrist's study, The Master and his Emissary (2009) which examines how the hemispheres of our brain work. The right hemisphere is emotional while the left is rational. Recent brain research shows thathemispheres develop at a different rate. In infancy and childhood the right hemisphere dominates the left. Leftism develops during adolescence when young people learn to control their emotions and desires. Patrick Hogan argues that emotions are predominantly selfish and ethics are constantly evolving selfishly in favor of the well-being of others. Blakey Vermeule, in his book "Why We Care About Literary Characters," states that "readers use fictional characters to solve basic moral problems (p. xii), and our investment in characters is an ethical concern." Huge Ethical Problems Ethical problems, also known as moral dilemmas, are situations in which the individual is in conflict, choosing between equally desirable or undesirable situations, or balancing options. This chapter will present a discussion of the ethical problems presented by the following three stories, Pinocchio, Snow White, and Little Red Riding Hood. The story of Pinocchio is about a carpenter named Geppeto who takes a piece of wood from his friend. Geppeto carves the shape of a boy on the piece of wood and it comes to life. She calls him Pinocchio. Geppeto sells his coat so Pinocchio can go to school. Instead of going to school, Pinocchio goes out to play with his friends. He gets into a lot of trouble and all he wants is to go home to his father. In this story there are two characters who have ethical problems, and they are Pinocchio and his father Geppeto. From the beginning of the story Geppeto lies to his son. She tells him that she sold the coat because it kept him too warm, not because she wants her son to go to school. Pinocchio is a wooden puppet, so he doesn't know what is right and what is wrong. Pinocchio is supposed to admire his father, but since Geppeto starts lying from the beginning, Pinocchio also becomes a liar. As a result, Pinocchio faces many ethical problems. As the book of Accounting Ethics states, "the story of Pinocchio is simply like the story of a boy whose nose grows when he lies". Pinocchio is a special wooden puppet who walks and talks by himself but is not a real boy. Being a puppet, he doesn't know what is right and what is wrong. He must acquire the principles of life from his surroundings. Since his father started lying to him from the beginning, he thinks that lying is the right behavior. Pinocchio's first lie is when he says he is going to school, but instead goes to a brightly colored booth and completely forgets about school. His second lie is to the fairy when he tells her about the fox and the cat. When the fairy asks him for coins, he says, "I lost them," even though he has them in his pocket. The fairy starts laughing at him because his nose is growing and she knows he isn't telling the truth. Eventually, when he realizes that lying can get him into trouble, he decides to change his behavior and help his father. For his kindness towards his father, the fairy rewards him by turning him into a real boy. Another ethical problem that Pinocchio faces is selfishness. Pinocchio doesn't appreciate what his father is doing to make him happy. Geppeto sells his coat so that his son can go to school, but Pinocchio doesn't care. All he cares about is his happiness. When he leaves home for a couple of days, he doesn't think his father will be worried about him. Pinocchio is a selfish person who does not care about the values ​​of others and sees no need to return a favor for a favor. After being transformed into a donkey, he realizes that what he did was wrong and begins to think about his father. While inside the whale with his father, he realizes that he should think about the people who love him, not just himself. The other story that has ethical problems is the story of Snow White. It's a story about an evil queen who is jealous of Snow White's beauty. The evil queenhe orders Snow White's murder, but later discovers that Snow White is still alive and hiding in a cottage with seven dwarfs. The queen gives Snow White a poisoned apple, and she falls into a death-like sleep. In the story the evil queen is jealous of Snow White, which leads to an ethical problem. The queen has a mirror that always tells her: "You, my queen, are the most beautiful of all." Snow White grows up into a beautiful girl. When the queen asks her mirror, 'Who in this land is the fairest of all,' the answer is 'You, my queen, are beautiful; it is true. But Snow White is a thousand times more beautiful than you.' After what the mirror tells the queen about Snow White, she becomes jealous of her beauty. The queen lives in a mental bubble where she thinks she is superior to others. The queen wishes to get rid of Snow White by asking the huntsman to kill her he takes pity on Snow White because of her beauty and says, "Run away, poor child", thinking that she will be killed by wild animals. Knowing that Snow White is not dead makes the queen even more jealous and hateful. She decides to kill her with a poisoned apple Knowing that there is someone more beautiful than her makes the queen jealous, oppressive and spiteful. Snow White is naive, pure-hearted and innocent, which makes her believe everything it is happening in front of her. She thinks that all people are good. Being naive causes her problems, as other people could take advantage of her, like her evil and mischievous stepmother (queen) The queen takes advantage of Snow White three times. The first two times he fails, but the third time he poisons Snow with an apple. Because she is naive and pure-hearted, she doesn't think that she is the queen with that red apple. While Snow White is in the woods she finds a small house that has seven beds inside, she enters and discovers that the house belongs to the seven dwarfs. They are kind to her, but also exploit her pure heart. They told her that if you want to stay with us, you have to cook and clean the house before we return every day. They take advantage of his situation to benefit himself. The last story that presents ethical problems is the story of Little Red Riding Hood. It revolves around a girl called Little Red Riding Hood. The girl walks in the woods to deliver food to her grandmother. On his way he meets the wolf. She starts talking to him and he tells her to pick some flowers for her sick grandmother. Meanwhile he goes to his grandmother's house and eats his grandmother. The wolf sleeps in his grandmother's bed waiting for Red to arrive. Little Red is kind, good and naive. While he is going to his grandmother, he meets the big bad wolf and starts talking to him. He should always refrain from talking to strangers. She tells him where she's going, showing how naive she is. Little Red Riding Hood can represent the shining sun that is eventually swallowed up by the terrible night, that is, the wolf. Little Red Riding Hood has another ethical problem, which is sexual maturity. Its red hood symbolizes the blood of menstruation, challenging the "dark forest" of femininity, or symbolizes the hymen. He is at the age where he wants to explore his body and the wolf takes advantage of this. The other character in the story is the wolf. He has a bad personality and is scary and deceptive. The wolf can symbolize a man, who can be a lover, a seducer or a sexual predator. When he sees Red and starts talking to her, he notices how kind she is, but at the same time sees how simple he is. He takes advantage of this by telling her to pick some flowers for his grandmother which gives him the opportunity to go home and eat his grandmother. When Red reaches the house, he sees how different his grandmother is. When she says to "grandmother" "what big teeth you have," the wolf replies "All the better to eat you, my dear." He deceives her, which leads to her rape. Red's kindness and the wolf's horror lead to rapeby Red. It shows that people who have good, pure, white hearts will sometimes be deceived by the evil in this world. In this story he is the big bad wolf. Internal Struggle and Power Imbalance Internal struggle is the struggle that occurs in someone's mind. A character may struggle with emotional issues such as fear of abandonment or relationships. Power imbalance is a character's attempt to achieve this by using, serving, or perceiving personal situations to apply to the young person's behavior or to limit the victim's ability to respond or stop their own aggression. This chapter will discuss the internal struggle and power imbalance that these three stories display: Rainbow Fish, Urashima Taro and the Turtle, and The Big Friendly Giant. The Rainbow Fish is the story of the most beautiful fish in the entire ocean who refuses to share its beautiful scales with anyone. When his greed leaves him friendless, he seeks advice from a wise octopus who advises him to give up his beauty and discover how to be happy. The Rainbow Fish struggles between giving up its beautiful scales to make friends or selfishly keep them. and have no friends. When the Rainbow Fish finds himself friendless, he goes to a wise octopus asking for help. The octopus tells him, "Give a glittering scale to each of the other fish." You will no longer be the most beautiful fish in the sea, but you will discover how to be happy.' After what he said to Rainbow, the octopus finds himself in an internal struggle. It says 'Gift my scale? My beautiful scales? Never. How could I ever be happy without them?' Rainbow can't make up his mind on the matter, until the little blue fish comes back again and tells him that he only wants one scale. Rainbow starts thinking about how losing a scale won't hurt him. Internal struggle doesn't just negatively impact people; it also has a positive impact on them. Being torn by different desires can influence people by inspiring them to take constructive actions towards growth and understanding of themselves and life in general. As a result, being in an internal struggle helps the Rainbow Fish take a step closer to happiness. When he decides to give a scale to the little blue fish, a strange sensation pervades Arcobaleno. He is happy to give his scales to other fish. The Big Friendly Giant is also a story about internal struggle. The BFG begins during the witching hour, a time in the middle of the night when all humans are supposed to sleep. That's the time when "all the dark things came out of hiding and had the world to themselves." This makes Sophie an intruder, which is how she sees the BFG blowing dreams into children's bedrooms. The sleeping humans give the giants their power over them. At night, giants have the power to capture humans and devour them without being detected. The BFG uses his power to do something good for humans. He blows sweet dreams into their windows, but when he sees that Sophie is spying on him, he struggles. This leads to him kidnapping her from the orphanage because he is worried that she will tell the whole world about him, and he will be captured and put in a zoo. The BFG thinks that what the other giants are doing, eating humans, is wrong. Unfortunately, being huge giants gives them the advantage and power over small giants. The BFG can do nothing to help these humans until Sophie arrives. Sophie and the BFG struggle to find a way to inform the Queen of England of the danger they will soon face. Having found a way, the BFG uses his power, blowing dreams when someone sleeps, to help the humans. This time the Great Friendly Giant mixes up a horrible dream and broadcasts it to the giants while they sleep. Internal struggle doesmay the BFG realize his wisdom. Ultimately, there is a reversal in the power imbalance. The evil giants become the victims while the BFG and Sophie are the heroes. Another story about internal struggle and power imbalance is Urashima Taro and the Turtle. It is a Japanese folktale about a young man called Urashima. One beautiful bright morning, Urashima goes fishing on his boat. Throw the net into the sea to catch a small turtle. After the turtle finds his voice, he begs for his life saying, "what good can I do you?" I am so young and small, and I would love to live a little longer. Be merciful and free me, and I will be able to show you my gratitude.' Urashima is very good-natured and releases the little turtle into the sea. Years pass and one day the turtle returns and pays his debt. As a result, Urashima faces an internal struggle when the turtle comes to help him. “I am the one whose life you saved once.” Now I will pay my debt and show my gratitude," said the turtle. Urashima doesn't wait twice to be asked, but when the turtle tells him that they won't return to this shore, he gets scared. Urashima doesn't know whether he should be grateful or whether he should fear for his life. The struggle he has is similar to the angel and the devil that a person can have on each shoulder. The angel tells him not to risk his life while the devil says to take this step and go with the turtle has no choice but to go with the turtle and it seems to be a good one. Every hour that passes he seems happier than the previous one , so he asks the queen if he can go visit them. After the queen gives her approval to Urashima, she gives him a small golden box. She tells him to keep it safe and never open it turtle will meet you on the shore and bring you back to me,” said the queen. Urashima faces another struggle regarding what to do with the box. Should he keep his promise or open the box? He decides to open the box and purple steam comes out. As he looks at his hand he sees that his fresh, youthful hands have suddenly become withered. Urashima admires the queen and this gives her power over him. When Urashima doesn't listen to what she asked of him, the queen punishes him by turning him into an extremely old man. Urashima's struggle and the queen's power lead to Urashima's death. Conclusion The six stories that have been read and discussed in this article, and their analysis provided, show that there is a connection between ethics, internal struggle and power imbalance. Ethics is a common theme throughout the stories, where all the characters resolve their ethical problems and continue living their lives. The characters in the stories struggle considerably and encounter many power imbalances to overcome their ethical problems. All the characters behave as they do to try to solve the problems they have implicated themselves in. Every action they take is a step towards solving their ethical problems. Having ethical problems shows the characters how to be brave, when to be wise, not to trust everyone, and believe in themselves. In Pinocchio's story, he overcomes his ethical problems by believing in himself and behaving like a wise man. He stops thinking about himself and thinks about the other people in his life. In the story of Little Snow White, the queen's jealousy makes her think wisely about how to get rid of Snow White, while Snow White's naivety affects her judgment of other people. The character of Little Red Riding Hood is naive. She believes everything people tell her. The wolf sees this from the beginning, so he makes her believe what he says. The Rainbow Fish struggles between giving his (2018).