Week 4 Essay: Facing Our Fears

In the Turkish Fairy Tales unit, several stories from Ignacz Kunos's Forty-Four Turkish Fairy Tales depict many obstacles that are what is considered pretty common fears in the modern day. While none of the stories reminded me of the horror genre, the fears the characters face make the plots very interesting to read because they are so easily able to relate to.

For instance, the first two stories Fear and Fear (cont.) address a character that is unsure if he knows what fear is. He goes through several situations that remind me of ghostly stories people tell to try to frighten one another. The situations include confronting ghosts, aggressive people, and monsters. While many of the fears are irrational, people still share these fears in modern day. People are weary of ghosts, harmful people, imaginary monsters under the bed and in our nightmares. These are just a few examples that from the fairy tales of this unit.

The monster in the sea.

(Image Information: "Perilous Position of HMS 'Terror,' Captain Back, in the Arctic Regions in the Summer of 1837," by William Smyth R.N. 1800-1877. Source: Wikimedia Commons.)

Another example of modern fears comes from The Wizard-Dervish (cont.). The couple is running from the woman's mother because she is a witch and does not approve of their marriage. Often enough in modern life we run from the people that do not approve of us or our decisions. This story is a good example of a very rational fear. In The Fish-Peri (cont.) story, the man is afraid of losing his wife to another man with more power, more money, and more fame.

Each character overcomes the fears and the obstacles eventually in their own way. That is very inspirational.

There are many more examples of fear that can be compared to our own in real life from these stories of this unit. I think by reading this unit, it is easy to relate and I really enjoyed reading them because I could compare them to situations happening. I believe people enjoy reading stories that make sense or they can relate to and that may be why this unit is very fun. Frightening stories can really make the experience thrilling. For some people frightening stories can heighten their sense of fear, but for others it can calm them, which is why I think the topic of fear as a plot is easily expanded on.

Bibliography:
Forty-four Turkish Fairy Tales by Ignacz Kunos with illustrations by Willy Pogany (1913). Web Source: Fourty-four Turkish Fairy Tales.