The Happy Prince Reflection

       The story of "The Happy Prince" is a modern fairy tale that reflects royalty (Prince) with an extremely opposite ending. The is no damzel in distress who is saved by a perfectly handsome prince and the living happily ever after has never been a captured ending. Inshort, no illusions, just a pure picture of the real society governed with human judgments and obsessions to material and superfacial beauties. There are several issues that can be learned and discussed in this amazing fairy tale. To mention a few; the lines of the people who had praised the statue before in his grandeus display of wealth and power and the opposing convictions of the same people chastising the lack of charm of the same poor statue after will show how human society regards the display of fancy things in life.Another point to be considered is the paradox "the sadness felt by the Prince when he already has a heart of lead" (p.6). The paradox displays a nearly perfect picture of how weatlh and status  can strongly influence the person's total impression of  life in general. However, the point that will be ellaborated further is the projection of the Swallow's personality.It is very interesting to note that in the begining of the story, the Swallow had never had any intention of becoming the bearer of goodwill." I can not stay for I "must" to go to Egypt. My friends are now enjoying at the Nile and building nests on Baal-bec". The Swallow had stressed the importance of reaching Egypt and joining it's friends celebrating the fun of summer. It's main purpose to stay on the statue is to take temporary shelter for a night to regain its strenght for another long journey the next day. Never had the Swallow thought of getting stuck to the mercy of carrying errands for the Prince.Fortunately, the tears and lamentations of the Prince had drawn the wandering bird to acccommodate his request.

        The swallow was stopped and was "dragged" as Prince's courier not because of its willingness to do the job but because it was caught in the situation where the choices of following its desire and accommodating another's desire were at stake. The Swallow had accomplished and acccommodated the request out of obligation. An obligation to do good to the Prince who has no capacity to move around and do things for himself. Eventually, the few flights of goodness and the unselfish giving of the Prince  have successfully appealed to the soft spot of the Swallow's heart. The Swallow developed  a deep connection towards the Prince and its true good nature was unveiled. Eventually, it was very difficult for the Swallow to leave and it made a very good choice that defines its very purpose in its life---TO STAY.

       Just like the Swallow, there are instances that in our lives our plans are well defined and the way towards them seem to be very smooth. Unknowingly, there are instances that will hamper and stop our journey. Often, these instances will drag us to the situation where we will be asked to do things that we do not want to. In this situation, the struggle between doing what we want and what the situation is asking us to do is the crisis that neeeds to be overcame. It requires one tough decision that will surely change the pattern of the life we wanted to follow. The difficulty will sometimes be burdened with the thought that decisions will always have consequences. Consequences are often the hardest to deal because they are the aftermath of any act of decisions we made. The duration of how long to suffer the consequences are always undefined.


       In the story, the Swallow has displayed a very good paragon of how to deal with the crisis of making decisions and choices. The Swallow decided to take the act of doing good. It's action has shown to us that the decision to do GOOD things will always be rewarding. DOING GOOD is truly the ultimate source of real HAPPINESS. Finally, all of us are challenged to answer the question, HAVE I BLESSED SOMEBODY TODAY BECAUSE I CHOOSE TO MAKE A GOOD DECISION AND TO DO GOOD DEEDS IN EVERYTHING I DO?