The Lady And The Merman Analysis

The Lady and the Merman is a fairytale about a girl who is not loved by her own father. From the moment she was born, he thought of her not as a beautiful gift but rather as a burden. In her father’s mind, she was the burden for which he and his wife would have to carry. He named her Borne to represent his feelings toward the small child. Since he worked as a seaman, he soon left for sea after her birth. Borne’s mother was so hurt that she passed away as a result of her husband’s blunt hatred of their only daughter. When he came back from a sea trip, the mother was dead and the father grew more aggravated.

The girl’s father said many times that he would be stuck with Borne forever, since he believed she would not find someone to marry. As

She baked for the poor, cared for the sick, and comforted the sorrowful. However, still desperate for love, she falls in love with a merman who ironically cannot communicate with her and can only point. Borne waits for the merman to come out of the sea so they can meet, but many days pass without any sight of him. Finally, he meets with Borne, who soon finds he cannot communicate with her. He points to the sea and swims away. She dives into the ocean to be with him, “The sea put bubble jewels in her hair and spread her skirts about her like a scallop shell. Tiny fish swam in between her fingers. The water cast her face in silver and all the sea was reflected in her eyes.” (Yolen 327). At this point, readers feel happiness for Borne because, she is perhaps going to become a mermaid and be loved at last, much like a typical fairytale ending. Surprisingly, Borne drowns giving this story a very distinctive twist for a fairytale. Borne is so desperate to be loved by the merman that she goes after him and ends up dying. Tragically, Borne dies in a place she feels safe and although ultimately alone, it is her last chance to give it one more try to be with the merman. The reader’s instinct wants her to survive, which does not end up happening. Yolen’s approach to fairytales is considered avant-garde, but holds a deeper reasoning for it than one might think. This tale ends up having a

Yolen creates a very realistic world under the sea letting readers truly envision this make-believe place. Her use of language encapsulates the reader directly into her unconventional, yet magnificent world, “He rose out of the crest of the wave, sea-foam crowning his green-black hair. His hands were raised high above him and the webbings of his fingers were as colorless as air. In the moonlight he seemed to stand upon his tail.” (Yolen 326). The description of the merman is very vivid and gives a complete mental image. Since children are very open to the realms of imagination, they will be immediately drawn to fairytales for their ability to enable a reader to enter a completely new and whimsical world unlike their own. Although this story is initially viewed as being dark and depressing, it gives a realistic moral lesson for children: Not everything can always end in happiness. Fairytales are a great range of fiction to engage children but also to teach them, “Advances in publishing technologies encouraged authors and illustrators to create works that could be reproduced at increasing rates for both entertainment and instructional purposes.” (M1 Content Guide - Social History of Children's Literature). They are appealing to young children who will read the story possibly multiple times, and learn about the world around them through it. For a gloomy story, its