Cinderella By Thomas Howard

Literary and/or oral fiction have been sources of entertainment, for people of all ages, ever since the earliest human civilizations. However, fictional stories were often written for purposes other than entertainment value. Many narratives, though fictional, were created to give the reader, many times children, direction regarding principles consistent in human interactions—wisdom, in a nutshell. This can be shown in stories, such as those that were collected and/or written by the Grimm brothers. “Cinderella,” one of the most popular stories collected by the brothers, is a story involving the death of a loved one, the struggle between right and wrong living, and redemptions, which are all real-world issues. The idea is that stories, such as
The more “realistic” a work is, the more “truth” is reveals; however, not all modern writers, such as Thomas Howard, agree with this concept. Thomas Howard, in his essay titled “Myth: A Flight to Reality,” concerning the reality of myth, writes, “Let me begin with the premise that when we speak of ‘myth’ we don’t mean something that is untrue” (415). He further writes, “The stories of Zeus and Odysseus are not myths by virtue of the fact that they didn’t happen. On the contrary, they are myths at least partly because they occurred in a real that is beyond the reach of the geographers’ and historians’ tools” (415). “Truth,” according to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, is defined as “a transcendent fundamental or spiritual reality” (1). Howard’s statements, concerning the nature of a myth, basically dismiss the idea that narratives that don’t confine themselves to that which is considered normal and/or are bound to the laws that govern the known universe are ineffective sources of truth, regarding the human-experience. For example, the Grimm Brothers, in their story titled “Cinderella,” in some ways, give an example of how people that are righteous, at heart, are victorious, when everything is said and done. After Cinderella’s mother dies, her father remarries. When Cinderella’s father goes away on an extended journey, her step-mother and step-sisters force her into a life of servitude and hard-labor. Despite what wicked things her step-mother and step-sisters make her do, Cinderella works with excellence and maintains a sense of purity, in her heart. In the end, Cinderella marries a handsome, wealthy prince and is able to move far away from her hateful step-mother and step-sisters (101-120). This story shows the value in keeping one’s heart pure and working at one’s best, despite the harshness of life. Though, the story of “Cinderella” doesn’t take place in