The Struggle For Meaning by Bruno Bettelheim

This reading, The Struggle For Meaning, was particularly intriguing to me because it talks alot about life. Bettelheim expresses the important lessons fairy tales can teach and also the different forms of personality development that can be learned. I find it to be true that one's environment and the society they live in can shape the way they develop as a person. But I also believe that before a child can comprehend the environment they live in, a perfect idea of life can be grasped through the use of fairy tale stories as children try to relate themselves to specific events that occur and through the way in which they interpret these events. The direction of which a child chooses to take in the creation of their personality is uncontrolable; they may relate well with the good guy or the bad guy. However, what is controlable is the overall message that is being sent to these kids. I am not saying that all your child needs is a nice fairy tale story and all work is done. But i am saying that with exposure to these kinds of tales, children are being provided with top quality building blocks that i think can be important for personality development before arrival into the "real world." What i learned and take away from this reading is that once a child has a genreal idea of what kind of person they are, they then can leave the confinments of their parents home, go out into the world and make a considerable difference. In the reading of fairy tales, without the clarification and explanation of each story by the parents, children will be given the opportunity to start developing a sense of who they really are as people.