cinderella critique

Critique Paper

The story of Cinderella has been told in various ways over the years. This particular story is the Native American version of the tale that keeps the traditional theme of characters that are found in the Native American culture. The story "Oochigeaskw-The Rough-Faced Girl" was originally told in the Algonquin language and written by the Mic Mac Indian people of North America. There were rumors that there, once lived a great Native American warrior with extraordinary power. He could make himself invisible to many except his sister. Any girl in the village who could see him would get the chance to marry him. (Behrens, 2013, pgs. 245) The young girl Oochigeaskw with the scarred up face does not even try to win the heart of the invisible being rather, she helps her sister’s in their quest to win him over. Of course, the sisters are evil and treat the girl poorly because she was more beautiful than her other sisters. So the sisters decided to make it so there is no chance of their younger sister being with the Native warrior. The younger sister eventually wins the heart of the warrior through her selflessness. The warrior then restores the girl’s beauty. (Rosen, 2013, pg. 246) The theme of this story is enduring “The Algonquin Cinderella”, a Native American Myth shows us the true story of Cinderella. The inner beauty in someone is far more important than just appearances. Oochigeaskw succeeded in marrying the invisible warrior because she wasn’t thinking about her outer beauty. The fact she saw the inner beauty in herself made her see the beauty in the boy. (Behrens, 2013, pgs. 245-247) On the other hand, Oochigeaskw’s two sisters failed to succeed because of their ignorance. They both thought that their appearances were far more important. They made sure they dressed themselves with fancy dresses to impress the invisible warrior, but not only did they fail the test, but they also failed to see the warrior’s inner beauty while this story is very dramatic with the illustrations that are put into your mind. The two older sisters were very vein and cruel. They made the girl do all the house work and scarred her face so that she was not attractive to the warrior. This traditional tale is both compelling and inspirational as it shows that beauty is only skin deep and that true beauty comes from within. While the two older, nasty sisters were beautiful on the outside they were cold and mean-spirited on the inside and the rough face girl was kind, caring and spiritual; these examples help illustrate to readers that it is their personality and spirit that counts the most. While the moral of this story is truly the most compelling overall, I found this fairy tale to be a tale of true beauty and love. The ending isn’t the traditional “they lived happily ever after” rather more of a “they lived together in gladness and never parted.” This story Algonquin Indian folk tale is one of the most powerful versions of the Cinderella tale ever told, and focuses on faith, courage, and inner beauty. This fantasy story provides the perfect cultural twists to the typical Cinderella story average American children are exposed to. The story is about a girl (a Cinderella figure) telling the truth which earns her true love that is not based on appearance, but on virtue. The illustrations are vivid and bold that creates a perfect parallel to the imagery the author provides. Unlike the Disney version of Cinderella, the main virtues themes of duty and truth are not contradicted by the fantasy elements in the story. Instead of a Cinderella that hides herself behind the powers of a fairy godmother; we find a Cinderella that is chosen based on solely on her virtue, even in the face of her unfortunate appearance. She is then made whole by the spirits that transform her appearance for her husband to be, but only after he has chosen her by revealing himself to her.

REFERENCES
Behrens, L. (2013). Writing and Reading Across the Curriculum. University of California Santa Barbara
Rosen, L. (2013), Writing and Reading Across the Curriculum. Bentley University

References: Behrens, L. (2013). Writing and Reading Across the Curriculum. University of California Santa Barbara Rosen, L. (2013), Writing and Reading Across the Curriculum. Bentley University