Maria Tatar's Oochigeaskw-The Rough Faced Girl

In the world of scholarly fairy tale analysis, Maria Tatar is a prominent figure. Tatar is strongly opinionated regarding these tales and believe that the meaning of them is often misrepresented- fairy tale’s do not teach objective morals and values to children, but rather provide a platform to express the contrast of anxieties and desires to further succeed through life’s struggle. Using Tatar’s claim regarding desires and anxieties as an analysis tool to help understand complicated variants of the world’s favorite fairy tales is a rewarding and and educational process. Delving into a story that most assume they already “know” in a conceptually different way expands the mind and makes prominent issues that may not already be clear just
While drawing similarities to other variants of “Cinderella”, the Native American version holds three fundamental variances from the typical tale: the role of Prince has been filled by an invisible man -for enigmatic reason- Oochigeaskw (“Cinderella”) appears empowered and autonomous by dressing up all by herself -no fairy godmother needed- and the tale focuses more on metaphysical and spiritual values more so than other similar fairy tales, hence the Invisible man. Briefly, the tales rolls along as such: The Invisible One lived with his sister, whom took care of him and met women for him to potentially marry. Along comes petite and weak Oochigeaskw, the youngest of three sisters to a widowed elderly man. Oochigeaskw gained her name, the Rough Faced girl, per her cruel elder sister’s actions of burning poor Oochigeaskw’s hands and feet with hot cinders. Oochigeaskw’s sisters tried to seek out the Invisible One’s matrimony, however failed to do so as they saw just as anybody else would see. The next day Little Oochigeaskw was prudent and empowered as she gathered supplies independently to adorn herself to feel confident enough to visit the Invisible One. Indeed upon arrival and furthermore, Oochigeaskw saw the Invisible One for everything that he was internally and spiritually – not in a religious manner, but instead, in a soulful manner. This was not purely coincidence on Oochigeaskw’s
However, an overabundance of either in a person’s forethought can be an absolute negative. Too many anxieties can create not only mental and motivational problems, but also health problems. Too many desires can go in two directions: a desire for instant gratification, i.e. addiction, or a desire for long term gratification, i.e. overworking to the point of physical and mental distress. In paragraph eight of Maria Tatar’s “An Introduction to Fairy Tales”, she reflects on what is often overturned in such stories, “Our deepest desires as well as our most profound anxieties enter the folkloric bloodstream… as repositories of a collective cultural consciousness and unconscious, [they] have attracted the attention of psychologists... renowned child psychologist [Bettelheim]… argued that fairy tales have a powerful therapeutic value, teaching children that “a struggle… in life is unavoidable.”” While Bruno Bettelheim’s opinion may be enough, it is Tatar’s that is sufficiently reflective as an analytical tool, as her authoritative voice stands ground. Tatar is a folklorist, professor at Harvard University, and author of a plethora of articles and ten scholarly books. It goes without saying that Tatar’s stance is steadfast, well-versed and accurate after many years of dissecting and regrouping such fictional work. Would the Native American version of