Beedle the Bard SPOILERS Babbity rabbity

[a_svirn]

No: HPFGUIDX 185180

> Alla:
> 
> So I went and reread Babbity, while specifically keeping "King's 
> clothes" on the back of my mind.
> 
> I have to agree, Muggle King is totally being mocked, I do not know 
> where I found pity or anything else.
> 
> However, however, I still do not get nearly the same feel as I get 
> from Anderson's tale. I mean, Rowling makes a hero out of Babbity, 
> doesn't she?
> 
> She saves the witches and wizards from the very real persecution, 
> does she not?
> 
> From Anderson's tale I get : mocking of the king and his adoring 
> crowd of subjects, who because they worship him or afraid of him 
are 
> afraid of pointing the obvious. Come to think of it, maybe I ought 
to 
> reverse my initial argument. Maybe Anderson pities his King more, 
> while also mocking him? I mean, Andreson's King is not really 
> dangerous, no? He is not going around forbidding other dressmakers 
to 
> do their craft.
> 
> With Rowling's tale, I get more of the foolishness transforming 
into 
> the very real oppression and danger and Babbity fighting and 
winning, 
> because of her creativity.
> 
> So, to make a long story short, yes, I acknowledge substantial plot 
> similarities, no I do not believe it is derivative and it does not 
> give me the same feel at all.

a_svirn:
It does not give the same feel to me either. My point is that the 
plot is essentially the same, but the Universe where it is set this 
time is different. Which in turn makes the central conflict about 
something different as well. Where the Andersen's story 
metaphorically juxtaposes child's innocence and grown-up world of 
sophisticated lies and conformism (with the latter being exposed in 
the end along with the stupid Emperor), Babbity is a parable about 
inferior and envious muggles persecuting superior (yet somehow 
inexplicably vulnerable) wizards with the latter eventually 
triumphing and exposing muggle inferiority and ignorance while doing 
so. Nothing metaphorical about Babbity and the muggle king – we even 
learn from Dumbledore that they both actually existed. 
a_svirn.