The Ugly Duckling
Hans Christian Andersen. The Ugly Duckling and Other Stories. Denmark: C.A.Reitzel, 1843. Tantor Media, 2008. PDF File.
'The Ugly Duckling' (Danish: Den grimme ælling) is one of Hans Christian Andersen's most famous children's tales. Andersen is a Danish poet, storyteller and writer. The Ugly Duckling' may be a kid literary fairy tale written in Danish. The book was originally published in November 11th, 1843 by the publisher, C. A. Reitzel in Copenhagen, Denmark. The text was adapted and illustrated by Jerry Pinkney. With an ethical message about self-love and acceptance. The story is appreciated for its ability to show children the importance of kindness to others. The author was born in Odense, Funen, Kingdom of Denmark–Norway.
Andersen first thought of the story in 1842, when he lived on the agricultural plantation of Bregentved, where he enjoyed spending time watching the sweetness of nature. He spent a year writing 'The Ugly Duckling' then told friends that it had become a reflection in his own life. The critic, Georg Brandes, once asked Andersen if he had considered writing his autobiography, to which the author replied it had already been written and called The anomaly . The story acknowledges his own poor childhood and his suffering after his father's death. He then described attending school because the most "bitter" and "darkest" experience of his life, as he said the principal bullied him, allegedly to "improve his character". He became depressed, but writing helped him express himself and he developed into a goose when he became a well-liked published author.
Words that are often related to loneliness are empty, unattended, homeless, withdrawn, isolated, and unaccompanied. The settings and pictures within the text represent each of these words. within the beginning, the author creates an atmosphere of loneliness by showing an unsightly duck that is unsupervised and pulled from the rest of the farm. The mood gradually shifts to a more miserable and isolated state.
This story could also be a childhood favorite that explores the survival story of an unsightly little bird that struggles to hunt out its value in various groups. The ugly duckling is about a search of identity. 'Where do I fit in?' seems to be a suitable question, rather than conforming to what's thought to be normal. the most themes presented by this book are the themes of acceptance and the way the sensation of acceptance is exclusive to every individual. When traveling to the countryside, the ugly duckling must survive in dangerous and frightening situations.
The title, "The Ugly Duckling," encourages negative feelings of self-esteem. ″‘I will fly to those royal birds,’ he exclaimed, ‘and they're going to kill me, because I'm so ugly, and dare to approach them; but it doesn't matter: better be killed by them than pecked by the ducks, beaten by the hens, pushed about by the maiden who feeds the poultry, or starved with hunger within the winter." Those pathetic words slipped out of the ugly duckling's mouth. It shows how hard his life is due to being bullied by others around him, in order that he would preferably be killed by the royal birds than getting bullied by his surroundings all the time. He's really sick an uninterested in living his life.
It shows that the ugly duckling within the story is seen as an outcast by his friends, therefore unacceptable. Throughout the story, the ugly duck begins to note the physical difference from his friends. He also noticed how he was treated differently from his brothers. As the story progresses, the ugly duckling begin to feel the loneliness and bitterness of his appearance which makes him feeling like he would never be accepted by his surroundings.
Until at some point, after a winter of being alone and afraid, he goes back to the pond to seek out two beautiful swans. As he approaches them, he's surprised that they welcome him with open arms. Turns out, he was a gorgeous swan too! This book teaches children to embrace who they're , and find people that will accept them for that.
In The Ugly Duckling book story, Hans Andersen uses animal symbolism to inform a disguised human story, it is a metaphor for human condition. It unites animal transformation and animal moral tale during a unique way; it's about an unrecognised metamorphosis that basically isn't one in the least. Within the characterization, Andersen used the indirect (implicit) characterization for the ugly duckling and his mother, which is shown by the action of the character. And for the duckling's brothers and sisters, he used the direct (explicit) characterization, he literally tells the audience what the character is like.
The setting of time during this book mostly use the neutral setting, because the setting of place during this story didn't show the precise time. The setting of time such as: one upon a time, several days later and at some point . It also uses the spiritual setting; there's “the cold and snow winter”. Here we will see the precise information about the setting. it's about the winter that cold and snowy. And for the setting of place, there's also use only the neutral setting, because there's no specific information about the place within the story. The author only mentions a simple place such as: the pond and thus the bushes.
About the author’s way of using language, the author uses the common language. Because the story is for kids, the author didn't bring the heavy language or the connotation. Mostly the author use denotation or dictionary meaning such as: “the mother duck”, “the little duckling”, and “the huge ugly duckling”. The author barely use connotations for the sentences, there is no extension meaning of each sentence. for instance “One day, the ugly duckling run away and hid within the bushes.” we will directly know that the duckling was hid in bushes, no more meaning that we will get from this sentence..
The setting and pictures reflect this by having the ugly ducking be continually rejected by different groups and eventually, showing the ugly duckling alone, freezing, and shut to death in the middle of winter. The colors within the images seem to urge gloomier and depict the sad and depressing state of duckling. However, because the mood shifts into feelings of acceptance and love, the pictures are brighter and happier. The story ends with the ultimate message that things recover and somewhere and somehow you'll experience acceptance.
Do we have to accept that ducks are ducks or young geese on their way to becoming adult geese? If it's sort of a duck and talks sort of a duck, then it's a duck. If it's a swan, then it's a goose regardless of what it looked like when it was very young. The story begins with a lie that is intentional or not. Either it takes us or not. Whatever the motive, it is what makes us show sympathy, as if dealing with one of our own children who is being bullied or called by name. The creature feels humiliated and worthless based on what other people think and what makes us believe.
The theme of this book, which is about acceptance. The moral lesson for people to accept themselves for who they truly are. Not looking like the other creatures in this life doesn't mean that we're a bad thing that exists. God must have created His creatures at the best version and has written the best fate of each life story of His creatures, we should be thankful for what we have got and blessed. The happy ending is meant to lift our spirits. The ugly duckling has had his day. In essence, we are being reminded that there is a time for every purpose under Heaven. We already know about the awkward crawling caterpillar that becomes a beautiful butterfly.
And this book also really shows us how a bullying can affect someone's mental health and feelings. No one in this world is allowed to bully others. The message conveyed by the much-loved story is simple, we shouldn't judge a person by their outer appearance. Even though someone may grow up feeling worthless, they can still grow up to blossom, like a beautiful swan. It's more about discovering what's inside, rather than simply by someone's appearance. I believe that acceptance is unique to each individual, not only in this story, but also in our daily lives. How I feel acceptance can be very different from how others feel acceptance. Don't judge a book by its cover, because what is seen in the eyes looks bad isn't always bad. It starts from ourself, our surroundings might not accept us, if not ourselves who will? One thing we should note to ourself, don't be let down easily.
References :
Andersen, Hans Christian. The Ugly Duckling and Other Stories. C.A.Reitzel, 1843. Tantor Media, 2008. PDF File.
Hans Christian Andersen : The Ugly Duckling. Griggs Est. 1970. August 13th, 2019. November 17th, 2020. https://www.magrigg.co.uk/blog/hans-christian-andersen-the-ugly-duckling/
