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The Little Mermaid Comparison

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How the Little Mermaid is Crucial to the Symbolization of What Many Endure for the Acceptance of Society in Hans Christian Andersen’s “The Little Mermaid”
Many are not familiar with the written story of “The Little Mermaid” but plenty of people would recognize the film version created by Disney film studios. While there are some differences in plot, the personalities of the young girls from the two versions come out as practically identical. These adventurous young women crave the need to know more about a life that they have never experienced before in their entire life. Yet throughout both versions, a consistent concept appears that identifies as one of meanings of the term monster. Anyone seen as even remotely different from what most people …show more content…

In the story, it says, “Her skin was a clear and delicate as the petals of a rose, her eyes as blue as the sea in its greatest depths” and then continues to describe her as “but she also, like the others, had no legs-her body ended in a fish tail” (Andersen 92). The author begins to turn the wheels of imagination in the audiences’ mind by outlining the appearance of the little mermaid. Some have a hard time imagining anyone that does not resemble them which the author tries to achieve when he describes the character as inhuman. If that someone or something does not remind one of normal traits, people automatically think of them as weird, abnormal, or even disgusting. The little mermaid understands that humans would never accept her without two legs and two feet. Many people even go through great lengths to change their physical appearance like the little mermaid because they want other people to see them differently and accept them. Accordingly, the little mermaid’s personal characteristics parallel to idea behind her physical characteristics. The story says, “She longed more and more to be able to live among them, for their world seemed to her so much larger than hers” (Andersen 100). The young mermaid’s curiosity about the humans grows and she longs to know the mysteries of the surface and land. The character wants the acceptance of the people on land because the little …show more content…

Denotation means the literal or primary meaning of a word like a dictionary definition. The term monster has a description of a figure seen as unique or peculiar that strives for the acceptance of society but most of the time experiences more rejection for its differences. The little mermaid’s grandmother makes a comment of, “What is beautiful here below, your fish tail, they consider ugly on earth” and she goes on to tell the little mermaid that “Up there one must have two clumsy limbs, which they call legs, in order to be beautiful” (Andersen 101). No one enjoys the idea of being ugly and the little mermaid reacts the same way that anyone else would by wanting to change her appearance so she will be considered beautiful by those who are considered normal. Society has certain standards people need to meet before they are considered normal and if anything does not meet those standards then they are not considered human or normal. Monsters fall under that definition where they do not meet those expectations so they can never be normal just like the little mermaid. No matter what the little mermaid or other monsters do, the perception people have of them does not deviate from anything other than abnormal. “Normal” people shun those who are different because they believe that they are better than the strange ones. Consequently, the

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