George Shannon is a professional story- teller. He is the author of the histori- cal study Humpty Dumpty lGreen Tigerl and two books for children, The Gang and Mrs. Higgins and Lizard's Song (Greenwillow, 1981).

George Shannon

The survival of the child: abuse in folktales

While child abuse has only recently become an approachable topic in contemporary media, the mistreatment of children has long been a part of folk-literature. The adults who collectively created and perpetuated the tales codified their belief that children may well struggle in their growth, but they are not to be abused, and those who do abuse them will be severely punished.

Every particular situation can be found in a folktale from some culture, yet folk-literature as a whole abounds with tales which stress the desirabil- ity of having children and the need/right to grow beyond parental deci- sions and consent. Couples wish for children in countless tales. Their lives are said to be happy and complete save parenthood. Royalty seem to meet the right frog or fairy at the right time. By eating the proper fruit or bathing in the directed water, queens and princesses give birth to long-awaited children. The peasant, however, must make do with the powers of love and wishing. Such couples find children in pumpkins, logs, peaches, etc. Indeed, some are so emotionally desperate for a child that they "baby" the object until one morning it has become a beautiful human child.

Those parents-in-waiting who are less patient make mistakes. Couples who feel they will be satisfied with a subst i tute-a doll of sorts-create dis- asters. The gingerbread boy runs away to his demise. The clay manniken devours his "creators" before his own destruction. The Russian couple who create a daughter of snow are left childless once they show that they value her less than their hen. Time and again folktales illustrate that the ability to create a child is not certification of a couple's good parenting. The proper care of a child is the dominant issue in the tales, not whether or not a couple can produce one.

Parents may abuse due to greed, jealousy, vanity, as well as uncontrolled anger and illness, and this is reflected in folk-literature. As the mother most easily {and stereotypically] represents the caring elements of parent-

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Abuse in folktales 35

"The Juniper Tree"

hood, she also becomes the most frequent abuser in folktales. It is the mother on whom the child is most dependent, so the mother's displeasure is more greatly felt. This role of villain is most often delegated to a "step- mother" who can be said to represent the evil, frustrated and unloving side of all parents. The stepmother in the German "The Juniper Tree" not only chops off the boy's head, but makes her own daughter believe that she is to blame. The actions are severe, but the boy's right to life endures. After he is cooked in the stew and eaten, his sister wraps his bones in silk and places them under the juniper t r ee - the place of his "true" and kind mother's grave. Out of a flash a bird appears that in time kills the step- mother. A second flash brings the boy back alive. Although the father in part devoured his son, he is not viewed as a villain [nor is the father of Hansel and Gretel) "for he knew not what he did." He had been manipu- lated by the stepmother, just as the sister had been.

"The Fairy Bird" In "The Fairy Bird," an African Swazi tale, a crazed mother angrily throws her two children down a cliff as punishment for doing what they were told not to do -en t e r the house while the parents were away. Again there is no sense or reason for the mother's actions, and again the children sur- vive. With luck and magic (magic always being on the side of the good) they grow to maturity while caring for themselves. At this point they err against the restrictions of the magic and as a result must leave the safety of their youth. As if in a test, they are attacked by two hideous monsters. Using intelligence, they are able to overpower and kill them. It is only after the encounter that they are informed that the monsters Were their parents, who had been transformed for their abusive actions. These chil- dren not only survived, but grew to an emotional maturity that allowed them control over abusive situations without using abusing actions them- selves. It must also be noted that powers outside the children were respon- sible for the initial punishment of the parents.

"The Haunted Forest"

"The Haunted Forest" of Lithuania includes a stepmother who meets her punishment/death in the act of her own abusive' actions toward the child. After fleeing the stepmother and going into the forest, a young girl chooses to stay there with those she has befriended. So that she is not missed at home they construct a clay replica inside of which is placed a poisonous snake. Years pass, but in time the anger explodes.

In all these years the stepmother had tormented the doll, but the clay creature whose body felt no pain minded it not and this made the wicked woman more cruel than ever. One day she fell into a terrible rage and threatened to beat the girl more severely than ever, and as she was about to hit her with a whip, the black snake, so long concealed i n t h e hollow body darted out and bit her on the tongue. It

Children's literature in education 36

"Rom"

"The Magic Tree"

was only a few days before the woman died and no one knew what became of her daughter, for no one ever discovered that she was not a real child.

While physical abuse is most readily identified, other "quiet" abusive acts take place-usual ly in the darkness and shadows. "Rom," a tale from the Congo, deals with the problems of parent-child incest between a mother and son. Rom, while dancing, meets a young woman who is as attracted to him as he is to her. As is the custom, he waits for her in his hut the next night singing songs. A woman comes to him dressed in courting clothes and they spend the night together. As the sun rises, Rom sees it is not the woman from the dance, but his mother, who could not resist. As he knows the child may not rebuke the parent, Rom feels there is but one thing to do. He dives onto a grouping of spears and dies. In time, his remains are transformed into a tree. A woman wants to cut down the tree but the tree begs her to dig it (him) up entirely so as to save the roots. Out of this a young man emerges-more handsome and respected than ever. People make him their king, for he has the power of life over death. Although Rom's mother seduced and tricked h i m - a cruel enough example of abuse - h e was not destroyed. "Rom" is a painfully honest tale of emotions, which deals with the affect of great anger turned inward when it cannot be "properly" directed toward a parent. Rom grows beyond his deceitful mother. He leaves her and his dependent childhood behind as he finds his own emotional and sexual maturity.

It is interesting that few parents are killed in response to abusive acts. The abused child, however, is not wrong in wanting to strike back - to protect h imself - to maintain his value. Anger is a justified emotion for the abused and is presented as such in folk-literature. A level of anger and thought- fulness eventually frees them from the negative situation.

All children must at some point say "no" to parents - to realize that parents are not always right. For the child in a physically or emotionally abusive situation, this point must be reached at an early age if the child is to survive. Folktales also depict the child's necessary growth beyond the initial function as "yes-man" to parents and toward a sense of self-trust. Still, many children in reality and tale continue to try to please their parents - to gain acceptance.' They work toward correcting their ills when they really have none. Muvungu, the primary character of the Congolese tale "The Magic Tree," adapted by Gerald McDermott, cannot let go. He cannot say no to an abusive mother. Even once he is beyond the negative situation he allows it to continue by leaving his wife and new home and returning to his mother's house. "He forgot those who loved him. And he gave his secret to those who did not love him at all." Muvungu's lack of

Abuse in [olktales 37

self sends him back into the abusive environment, and though he realizes his mistake, it is too late, for his wife and village vanish in his absence. He is left alone.

"The Talking Eggs"

Being a "yes-man" in folktales brings disaster to the character, for his actions and feelings are not his own. Blind obedience to parents' demands cannot alone solve problems. In the French/Cajun tale "The Talking Eggs," two girls live in the same home. As in many tales, one is beautiful and kind, while the other is ugly and selfish. It is always the kind one who is abused and overworked-the one with whom the listener identifies. After running away from the beatings of her mother, the kind girl finds herself lost in the woods. An old woman takes her home and feeds her, all the while placing odd demands on the girl. Although unsure, the girl knows she must protect herself and remains in control of the situation. For this and her kindness she is rewarded. Her natural actions bring her a fresh life. The mother, however, decides in jealousy [for she loves the selfish daughter most I that the second girl must gather such material rewards as did the first. The mother orders the second daughter to go out and repeat her sister's actions. It cannot be done. The second girl may walk through the events, but as they are not her own, her attempt is hollow and results in disaster. Obedience offers no guarantees. The daughter who blindly followed her mother's directions is in the end rejected by her.

Like the human behavior they reflect, folk tales are far from monolithic. It is the trait or action which is punished in tales, not the age or relationship of the offender. Vain and greedy children are punished, as are adults of a similar nature.

"The Willful Child"

It is also significant that the folk process only perpetuates tales with which people are emotionally comfortable and those which offer them congenial values in addition to elements of entertainment. In "The Willful Child," a brief, little known, and didactic story collected by the Brothers Grimm, a girl is made ill by God, for she would not do as her mother wished. Even after burial, one of her arms continued to stretch up out of the earth until her mother beat it with an iron rod. Most people find it offensive today. It is not surprising that it is being sifted out of the active body of shared folk-literature. In "The Incompleat Folksinger," Pete Seeger states: "An editorial in rhyme rarely makes a good song. The most long lasting ballads tell a story and let the listener draw the moral. But just as the newspaper owner uses his editorial opinion to select what stories to print, every singer shows his opinion in the songs he selects to sing. "1 The transference to tales, and cultural selection of the tales to tell and maintain, is a clear one.

ChiMren's literature in education 38

The tales which r ema in and are shared fo rm a reflection of a culture's

mores , and cont inual ly offer insights into ourselves and our lives.

Notes

1. Seeger, Pete. The Incompleat Folksinger (New York: Simon and Schuster, 1972}, p. 3.

Children's works referred to

Berger, Terry "The Fairy Bird" Black Fairy Tales New York: Atheneum, 1969. Botkin, B. A. {Ed.} "The Talking Eggs"A Treasury of American Folklore New York:

Crown, 1944. Grimm, Jacob and Wilhelm "The Juniper Tree" and "The Willful Child" The Com-

plete Grimm's Fairy Tales New York: Pantheon, 1944. Knappert, Jan "Rom" Myths and Legends of the Congo Nairobi/London: Heineimann

Educational Books, 1971. McDermott, Gerald The Magic Tree New York: Holt, Rinehart & Winston, 1973. Ransome, Arthur "The Little Daughter of the Snow" Old Peter's Russian Tales New

York: Nelson, 1916.