Last minute rewrite
I was working on yet another Little Mermaid comic and was reminded of the original ending, in which she doesn’t just die -she becomes a “daughter of the air”. Andersen couldn’t leave well alone his tragic endings, which on their own could’ve instilled in the reader a sense of compassion and empathy, a “I will not behave like the people who mistreated the heroine!” sort of thing. No, for their suffering they were always rewarded in the afterlife (see also: Oscar Wilde’s “The Happy Prince”). It always annoyed me that it was a way of having their cake and eat it too, all the while undermining their main point.
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Before I read your comment, I thought this comic was about The Little Match Girl.
You have to take into account the societal circumstances under which those stories were being written. The mistreatment of the main heroine you see in “The Little Mermaid”, society’s indifference to “The Little Matchstick Girl” and the social injustice that “The Happy Prince” tries to rectify were seen as *normal* during the time those stories were being written. In some cases, it was even encouraged and seen as “good” by a big chunk of the population. Let’s not forget that this was the time where social-darwinists like Herbert Spencer were at their peak of their influence after all.
Oscar Wilde and Hans Christian Andersen tried to make sense of a cruel world that often appeared to be senseless. And the only way they could do that was through a “metaphysical reward” narrative.
Furthermore both Wilde and Andersen were well-known writers who lived comfortable lives inside their bubbles. Fighting for societal change and displaying civil empathy towards your fellow human beings was not something they could effectively advocate as they were both messed up individuals who were *happy* with their personal social standing when those stories were being written. As such, their stories lack any sort of meaningful catharsis outside of a metaphysical one.
It’s interesting to see how some modern writers handle stories like “The Little Matchstick Girl”. In Terry Pratchett’s “Hogfather” Death temporarily becomes Santa Claus and when the time comes for him to take the life of the Matchstick Girl he instead chooses to save her life. As Death he is not allowed to save lives. But as Santa Claus he is allowed to give presents. And there is no greater present than a future.
He then hands over the Little Matchstick Girl to a couple of police officers and orders them to take care of her, emphasizing that he will be checking on her from time to time.
The angels then show up to take the Little Matchstick Girl to heaven but Santa’s helper throws snowballs at them until they go away.
In Pratchett’s version of the story the solution still seems to come through metaphysical but Pratchett utilizes the police in order to bring the story to a satisfying conclusion. The message goes from “Little Matchstick Girl will be happy in the Afterlife” to “Little Matchstick Girls wouldn’t have to die alone in the cold if services like the police actively cared and did their freaking jobs”.
As a side note, do read Terry Pratchett’s”Hogfather” even if you are not a Discworld fan. It’s one of the most hilarious, philosophical and heartwarming Christmas stories you will ever get to read.