Dunsany's short story of the Wild Thing who wanted a human soul is cool, for me, precisely because it's like a 'fixed' version of the Little Mermaid. (I'm pretty sure I gave a link to it in my first comment, but if not, it's not hard to find, if anyone wants to.)
Like the Little Mermaid, the Wild Thing is soulless but immortal. Like her, she hears people and falls for the idea of joining them. Like her, their society doesn't understand her and can't accept her. Like her, she is not really able to integrate into their society and must leave.
Unlike the Mermaid, she keeps her voice. Unlike the Mermaid, her kin think her plan of gaining a soul is something worth supporting as well as they can. Unlike the Mermaid, she copes in our society and is able to succeed by our measures of success, if not her own. Unlike the Mermaid, she doesn't focus her desire for acceptance in on marriage or a man. There's a guy at one point -- a young priest -- but she's not that into him really. He's a bit part.
And finally, unlike the Mermaid, she *doesn't lose in the end*. (She not only finishes the story just as well off as she started, she's also *created value*, by giving a soul to someone else.)
Dunsany manages to create a story about an inhuman thing that wants to be human, but can't quite make it, but without the inhuman losing anything in the end. It works better for me than either Andersen's Little Mermaid (or Asimov's 'I, Robot', for that matter).
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Date: 26 Nov 2010 12:53 am (UTC)Like the Little Mermaid, the Wild Thing is soulless but immortal. Like her, she hears people and falls for the idea of joining them. Like her, their society doesn't understand her and can't accept her. Like her, she is not really able to integrate into their society and must leave.
Unlike the Mermaid, she keeps her voice. Unlike the Mermaid, her kin think her plan of gaining a soul is something worth supporting as well as they can. Unlike the Mermaid, she copes in our society and is able to succeed by our measures of success, if not her own. Unlike the Mermaid, she doesn't focus her desire for acceptance in on marriage or a man. There's a guy at one point -- a young priest -- but she's not that into him really. He's a bit part.
And finally, unlike the Mermaid, she *doesn't lose in the end*. (She not only finishes the story just as well off as she started, she's also *created value*, by giving a soul to someone else.)
Dunsany manages to create a story about an inhuman thing that wants to be human, but can't quite make it, but without the inhuman losing anything in the end. It works better for me than either Andersen's Little Mermaid (or Asimov's 'I, Robot', for that matter).