Reply to comment

I do not agree with the passage that Bruno Bettelheim quotes. "Deeper meaning resides in the fairy tales told to me in my childhood than in the truth that is taught by life." Fairy tales are important. They contain lessons and themes that are embedded in many, many cultures. These themes are what help them survive as long as they do. Take Cinderella. There will always be younger children who identify with her because they feel that they cannot live up to their older siblings. However, fairy tales are not the only stories that have these transcendent themes. Shakespeare's plays have survived so long because the themes within them are also relevant to today.

Fairy tales are not as important as this passage makes them seem. They are only one part of a child's development. And having too much of them would just feed a child's egocentricism. Children are inherently selfish and fairy tales are another expression of that selfishness. Psychologically speaking, this egocentricism is one of the many stages of a child's development and it needs to be overcome for the child to be a healthy individual.