A Young Christian Author on Fairy Stories

Man was not made to die. Death is an unnatural predator, a thief that robs man of the glory and delight of life. We were created to live, to walk with God in perfect bliss forever and ever. We were not made to die. Human nature revolts against the thought of death as something deeply unnatural, especially when a loved one passes to the other side of eternity and death stands as a seemingly infinite gulf between two souls, iron bars preventing the sweet communion that once was. Additionally, death brings with it something of the unknown; no one who has ever fully tasted death has returned to describe the way. Human nature tends to dislike, or even fear, the unknown and unfamiliar and is distressed by separation from loved ones.

But fundamentally, man seeks to escape death for one simple reason:

We were made to live.

This instinctive desire is woven into the very fabric of what it means to be man, for God “has put eternity into man’s heart” (Ecc. 3:11). Writers effectively breathe deeper meaning and impact into their works by recognizing the fundamental longing of humanity and addressing it in a way that points to a far more transcendent reality and promise. This longing to escape death overflows in various modes of human expression and is uniquely prominent in the realm of fairy stories where escapism can be beautifully portrayed.

Euphemizing Death

Many fairy stories provide two main answers to the problem of death. First, they tend to portray the reality of death in a soft, quiet, and passive light through a powerful euphemism, calling it “sleep” instead of “death.” Death is turned for Sleeping Beauty into a long, painless slumber. And when Iván Tsarévich is brought back from death by the Waters of Life, he declares, “Oh, what a long sleep I have had!” (The Tale of Iván Tsarévich). Similarly, death, for the believer, is not a violent struggle but a gentle slumber, a sweet rest for weary travelers and pilgrims. It is described in fairy tale as a “good” thing, “better than life,” a sleep that soothes the aching feet of the traveler and gives the soul rest (The Golden Key, 21). David speaks in the Psalms of “the sleep of death,” Stephen “fell asleep” when his soul was received into heaven, and Paul speaks of those who are “asleep” in Christ (Ps. 13:3, Acts 7:60, 1 Thess. 4:13). So, Scripture also likens death to a “sleep,” that does not last forever, a sleep that transforms the body from “perishable” to “imperishable,” from “mortality” to “immortality” (1 Cor. 15:51-53). The body of the believer rests in this bed of slumber until it is raised to glory. This glorious “eucatastrophe,” as Tolkien termed it, can perhaps be most wonderfully captured in the realm of fantasy and fairy tales, where writers have the privilege of meeting reality with the fantastic and exploring the joy of promises that are yet to be.

Life after Death

The second prevalent consolation provided in fairy stories is that they tell of a life after death. Man’s story does not end in this world. The Golden Key illustrates this idea very potently. Mossy and Tangle embark on a long journey, always aiming to reach the land “from which the shadows fall” (Macdonald, 16). There, they would live in glorious bliss and find a reality infinitely more beautiful than shadows. But first, they have to pass through death, and they find its waters sweet and refreshing. This is far from a hopeless death, and, after undergoing its soft currents, they rise and climb up the rainbow, ascending from life to life abundant. The believer, too, has great assurance and hope even amidst death and is enabled to rejoice in the knowledge that he will “go from strength to strength” to “appear[] before God in Zion” (Ps. 84:7). The story of Sleeping Beauty profoundly illustrates this idea of second life. Sleeping Beauty falls into a century-long sleep, a sort of death, as it were. In this slumber, she rests utterly unconscious, and it is impossible for anyone to bring her back to life, so to speak. But at the end of the hundred years, the prince comes for his bride and calls her to a new life, awakening her from slumber. He has come for her at last, and she is resurrected to be brought with joy to the marriage supper of the bridegroom.

Excellent writers are able to see the beauty of fairy tale settings as copies of higher realities and effectively direct the longing of man heavenward.

They do not ignore the longing of man or offer a glib fix; instead, they provide consolation and hope grounded in unmistakable promise.

The Joy of a Deeper Redemption

These escapist themes woven throughout fairy stories demonstrate that innately, the heart and soul of man is set on eternity. Deep down, man knows—and wants to know—that there must be something beyond this world. Life’s story wasn’t meant to just end with death. Fairy stories exemplify this inward longing to escape death and find consolation in something beyond. But, while there is sweetness to be found in the truth that death is merely a slumbering rest for the body of the believer that will one day be raised up to live again and, this time, to live forever in eternal bliss, no offer of escape is complete without the story of redemption.

Nothing else will do. There is no Grey Wolf to easily pour the Waters of Life on a broken man. There is no magical prince to give a simple kiss. There is no Old Man of the Sea to reach out his hand and painlessly raise a weary soul out of the sleep of death.

But there is a great Savior who has willingly submitted to the horrible death and judgment man brought upon himself and, in His unspeakable love, has sacrificed even His own life to secure the way to life to all who believe in Him and cling to Him alone for refuge and deliverance from death. And what way of escape could be more sure than one secured by the blood of God Himself! What road of life and deliverance could be more certain than one so dearly purchased with the blood of Christ? This road to life is all the more secure because it was so costly. This is a salvation upon which the weary and inwardly dying man can stake the entire weight of his soul. The believer can take great joy in this wonderful salvation and exult with the apostle Paul,

“O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?” (1 Cor. 15:55).

We were not made to die. We were made to live. We were made to enjoy communion and life with God forever. Jesus gave His life to restore this union. Because Jesus died, the chains of death and sin have been broken; because Jesus lives, we, too, will live forever with Him.

Promise is reinforced as reality, and the gates of glory and ecstasy are opened to man.