If I’m being entirely honest, I’ve never been introduced to any adaptation or version of The Little Mermaid, so reading this without any assumptions or biases makes me wonder if my interpretation is any different from that of those who have already seen the movie. Because I haven’t seen the Disney adaptation, I don’t know what is different about the story and the characters. However, I can assume that the Disney version is modernized and may exclude some of the details on death and immortality.
Anderson is a Danish writer, but when I looked him up it seems like many people have questioned his faith because of his views on life and death. After reading the story, I sense that there is definitely some Catholic values of the time showing through. The Catholic Church says that the human soul is immortal. It also preaches that animals are unlike humans because they do not have immortal rational souls. To me, this story really brings out those ideas that Anderson has about the soul and what it means to be alive. In the story, the old dame tells the little mermaid that humans “have a soul that lives eternally”, unlike the soul of the mermaids that just “chamg[es] into foam.” This reveals to readers that Anderson has at least some Catholic values, and he’s letting it show through in the story. Even more than the other stories I see many biblical allusions throughout the story. The Kingdom of Heaven is referenced, among other allusions.
This story also reminds me of an interesting issue that wasn’t as prevalent when the story was written. The little mermaid joins the human world only to feel out of place and like she doesn’t belong but still doesn’t feel accepted in the sea. It’s as if she’s alone and alienated by both sides. This is an issue that I’ve seen (not experienced myself) many times with immigrants the the US. We look at people with ethnic backgrounds and say, “He’s Mexican, she’s Vietnamese”, even when that person may have never been to those countries. Then, when that person goes to the country of their ethnic background, they also don’t feel at home because they’re American. I find this parallel particularly interesting because I doubt it was intended by the author.
Hi River! I would love to comment on the last two sentences of your post. In my blog post, I mainly talked about this story and its parallels with the immigrant experience, I’m glad that someone else noticed that, and I wasn’t just projecting. All jokes aside, it is a wonderful allegory for being torn between two cultures and having to assimilate to just one. The longing to belong and the struggle with identity is something I’m sure many immigrants and children of immigrants, including me can relate to. I am interested in if this might have been something occurring at the time for it to be so prevalent in the story,or if it was just a coincidence as you said you doubt it was intended by Anderson, which I agree with.
Hi River, interesting to see the author‘s background information and connecting it to the text! When I first read Anderson‘s tale, I would have never thought that his faith could have been questioned, as they were too many Christian references made in the text.
I really loved your insight because you pointed out a parallel that I completely felt and related to. The mermaid definitely feels alienated in both worlds and that is something that is extremely prevalent and relatable to those that migrate to this country. I grew up in the US but I defintiely feel alienated in the Middle East and here because I grew up so differenty from both American and Middle Eastern kids. I found it quite interesting how all the other sisters, even after seeing the beauties of the human world, highlighted that their utmost comfort and happiness was back in the ocean. I felt that the author did this to also point out that even with curious minds, our native roots will always be what is best for us.