Parody

"The Story of the Youth Who Went Forth to Learn What Fear Was" can be referred to as somewhat of parody of the typical fairy tale and all of its hidden cultural values. Although the hero of this story is a youngest son, he does not fit the usual character of such a son, who normally achieves his goals with the aid of magical helpers. Accomplishing his task with his own skill and courage, he fits more in the mold of a heroic character.

During his stay in the haunted mansion, the younger son comes across a multitude of corpses. His act of cutting down the corpses to let them warm themselves is similar to the test of compassion that many fairy tale heroes face, but where the act typically wins the hero a gift or a magical helper, here it is merely an incident, perhaps a parody of the more typical plot lines of many popular fairy tales.

The boys "lack" of fear stemmed from his ignorance of the cultural norms we are told to fear. This tale points us in a direction asking us to question if values or traditions we previously held important due to society telling us we should are really as correct of important as they appear. Are all of our unconscious or intense fears truly all mental? Have fears been instilled into us without legitimate reasons supporting these irrationalities? It seems as if there may have been a hint to the general public to take a deeper look into the public fluff we have been presented with throughout our lives.