| In 2008, the literary world saw the reemergence of the Gothic fairy tale in popular children's literature with Neil Gaiman's The Graveyard Book. Traditional, Gothic twinged fairy tales are of vital importance to the psychological growth and development of children. Classically, these tales contain all aspects of the human condition. Without being exposed to the positive and negative sides of life, to love and hate, to victory and defeat, etc..., children are robbed of the ability to properly mature into well-rounded adults. This is due to a societal shift, over the past 20 to 30 years, towards children's stories that have neutered traditional fairy tales in order to provide simple entertainment for the child readers. Gothic motifs are necessary in traditional fairy tales, and the crossing of the fairy tale and Gothic literature help the reader not only to see the positive aspects of life, but the darker side as well. Ghosts and ghouls, graveyards, ancient houses, and other such spooky elements allow the reader to transpose their fears into the fairy tale. This allows a disconnect from the narrative's fearful elements, and ultimately gives the child reader the agency to overcome them, just as the protagonist does. Gaiman adheres to this classic Gothic fairy tale style, and creating a narrative which enables the proper growth of the child readers imagination, emotions, and intellect. Following the main character, Nobody (Bod) Owens, through the mono-mythic hero-journey, it is possible to examine the ways in which it bolsters the Gothic fairy tale. The addition of the hero's journey arch allows for the further education and growth of Bod through continuously placing difficult challenges in front of him that must be overcome. Only through this series of challenges, his subsequent victories over them, and the dead (and undead) who help him along the way, that Bod is able to synthesize the whole experience of living in the graveyard into his true identity. When he does this, Bod is able to leave the graveyard and reinstate himself into "real life" amongst the people in the surrounding world. |
