However, if the older children are stepchildren or half-siblings, that usually trumps this trope the younger children usually succeed only if they are not hostile to their half siblings. In cultures where the daughters must be married off in order of age, this can really complicate life. The youngest daughter is often the most beautiful or otherwise most desirable. Even if he isn't, the older children are prone to believe that he is. Usually, this child is ostensibly somehow worse than his siblings - either more foolish (and thus more honest) or smaller and weaker (but cleverer). In a standard story template that often goes along with this, each child in turn receives instructions from a (usually magical) source on how to make their fortune the older two ignore the advice and suffer the consequences, while the youngest one follows it and gets a happy ending. Whenever multiple siblings are portrayed, the youngest is the hero the older ones are either evil, incompetent, outclassed, or just boring.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |