26 November 2023 , 07:00
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Fairytales, particularly the classics like Cinderella, the Little Mermaid, and Peter Pan, are actually very different from the Disney versions that most people know and love. For instance, in the original story of The Little Mermaid by Hans Christian Anderson, Ariel does get legs to meet her prince but the reader is told that every step feels like she’s being stabbed.
Or, take Peter Pan, by J.M. Barrie, who is actually a murdering monster who thinks nothing of killing pirates and his beloved Lost Boys, to either “thin the herd” or because they grow up, which isn’t allowed.
And even Cinderella, whose ugly sisters were forced to chop bits of their feet off by their mum in order to get their trotters in the slipper. According to the Grimm brothers, they also had their eyes plucked out by pigeons as their step-sister and the prince rode off into the sunset. That definitely wasn't in the Disney version.
However, it seems some people are still struggling to come to terms with another childhood story. Offering their thoughts on the ‘most horrible children’s books ever written,’ one person wrote on Quora : “The Rainbow Fish by Marcus Pfister. People love this book. But I do not like its message. It is supposed to be about sharing but it is not.”
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For anyone who hasn’t read the book, the Rainbow Fish in the story has beautiful, iridescent scales. He vainly believes himself to be the ‘most beautiful fish’ in the sea but he gets sad because he has no friends. He has a friendly chat with an octopus who advises him to share his scales and this will earn him some pals. He does and keeps just one shiny scale for himself. He might not be the most beautiful anymore but he does have lots of mates.
Annoyed by this, the disgruntled reader blasted: “Why does the Rainbow Fish have to give his scales away to have friends? This isn’t sharing. This is other, less beautiful fish being mean and jealous. It is not the fault of the Rainbow Fish that he was born with beautiful scales.
“To me, it’s the human equivalent of having no friends because you’re beautiful and all the other girls are jealous. You cannot give your friends pieces of yourself like the Rainbow Fish does.
“You can swap in any coveted thing for the scales. But the end result is the same. It’s not sharing. It’s bribing. It’s fish (people) being small, mean, and covetous. The lesson the book thinks it’s teaching is really not the message I’m reading.”
And people were quick to agree with them, also offering another analogy of the story. One person added: “If you think of it from the perspective of the rainbow fish being rich, it's even worse. Everybody just uses him for his money. In real life, however, he'd be discarded as soon as he was out of scales to give.”
Someone else penned: “At first glance, I said oh no! I loved the rainbow fish! I continued reading. My mind is totally blown right now. I’d never thought of it that way before.”
But other people weren’t convinced. One user wrote: “This is a completely wrong interpretation of the book. The book is about the rainbow fish not being unpopular for just having these beautiful scales, but fish disliking him for constantly showing it off and rub it in their faces how he has all these beautiful scales while they have nothing. It's about making more friends if you share, instead of boast your richness. Powerful message. Love this book. Apparently, most people here didn't bother even reading it.”