The Paper Bag Princess Analysis

There are so many different social issues in the world. Some of them are already old-fashioned, but others still exist. They are a part of people’s lives and society as a whole. A lot of people suffer from them in certain ways. That is why it is essential to let people all over the world know about these issues and try to solve them. It is remarkable that all literary works deal with various social issues. Authors explore, show and develop them in different ways. This helps a reader to understand the concepts of these social issues better. The Paper Bag Princess written by Robert Munsch, and Hana’s Suitcase written by Karen Levine are two significant pieces of literature that deal with similar social issues. Their main characters, princess
This issue occurs when various stereotypes based on a person’s sex take place. It also can be associated with gender roles and even violence. In this fiction book, Elizabeth faces the prepossession that girls, especially princesses, have to always be neat and pretty and behave in a certain way. She is told that girls should look after their appearance; they have to be clean and well dressed. When she risks her own life and comes to the dragon’s cave for her prince, prince Ronald does not even appreciate that: “He looked at her and said: ‘Elizabeth, you are a mess! You smell like ashes, your hair is all tangled and you are wearing a dirty old paper bag. Come back when you are dressed like a real princess’ ”(Munsch 26). So, Elizabeth goes against all preconceptions about girls’ behavior and breaks the stereotype that girls cannot be heroes. Elizabeth realizes that she is surrounded by callous people and decides to leave prince Ronald; that is the way she deals with her issue. She tells Ronald: “you look like a real prince, but you are a bum” (Munsch 28). The author also says “they didn’t get married after all” (Munsch 28). The author uses the fantasy genre and a comic tone in order to demonstrate the mentioned issue and stereotype. All characters in the book are fictional. Some of the actions are not even possible in real life. However, that does not make the book
That social issue is racism, which occurs when people infringe on the rights of people of a specific nationality and try to exterminate them. In Hana’s Suitcase, Hana and her family are Jewish, and at the time they live in, the Nazis want to exterminate all Jews: “The Nazis declared that Jews were evil, a bad influence, dangerous” (Levine 23). Nazi troops make Jews live by different rules in the territories they enter. Jewish people cannot live normal lives anymore: they are prohibited from doing things that non-Jewish people do. From this moment, “no Jews in the playground. No Jews on the sports fields. No Jews in the parks” are allowed (Levine 24). Later, the Nazis announce that Jewish children are not allowed to attend school anymore (Levin 28). That is just frightening. If Jews do not follow these rules, they can get arrested: “the penalty for breaking any law was very severe. Everyone was afraid of being arrested” (Levine 26). Hana bravely overcomes all obstacles she meets on her way. Yet, the author indicates that, unfortunately, there is nothing she can do against racism. Hana and Elizabeth deal with facing social issues in different ways, which makes their stories distinctive. Throughout the story, Karen Levine uses a sorrowful and terrifying tone, which shows the emotional state of society at that time. The fact that this story is a biography makes it even more