Sunday, January 27, 2013

Which Fairytale is Figure is Obama? Gunning for Answers.


The really old fairy tales have come down through oral traditions. What most of the stories have in common are archetypal characters. By the end of the tale, love and virtue has conquered, and a moral lesson has been, if not learned, at least taught. If one reads enough fairytales, most human conditions common to man will be addressed, and most people will identify with one of the characterizations. So, which fairytale character is Barak Obama?

Since his reelection, he has most definitely become Sleeping Beauty's father. The story goes back centuries with roots in both France and Germany. Although the details vary, the core of the story remains intact. After many childless years, (some accounts portray consultations with a frog during this interval,) a long-awaited child is born. The king, in his joy, throws a grand feast. Among the guests, the numbers vary somewhat, but between 7 and 13 fairies bestow gifts of beauty, cheerfulness, song, charity, and such. One of the fairies was affronted, however, and either as a curse or a prophecy, declares that the princess will prick her finger on a spindle for spinning thread on her 16th (or 15th) birthday and die.

Different versions have varied explanations of how death is ameliorated into a hundred-year slumber, but all agree on the king's aggressive course of action: A national spindle ban! Not only does he outlaw spindles, spinning wheels are banned as well. Of course, this overly extreme and irrational act solves nothing. The kingdom's textile manufacturing tanks. Thread has to be imported from foreign markets, and the economy suffers from balance of trade issues. Shortages ensue while thread prices rise and quality drops. When the princess hits sweet sixteen, the inevitable happens. The castle is overtaken with brambles, thorns, and briers. The king becomes essentially irrelevant.

Do not miss the irony that Sleeping Beauty is rescued by a prince and his hunting party who are armed to the teeth with sharp objects.

Spindle photo from the Spinning Fishwife blog.