Issue Essay

When I was in sixth grade, Mr. Post would have us pound out these papers he called “issue essays.”  The point was essentially to show both sides of the topic; proponents and opponents factually and equitably represented.  It’s been a few years since I authored a grammar school issue essay, but I’ve found a worthy topic.  Earlier this year, my friend Susan, a former librarian turned accomplished change management and technology consultant, asked me a seemingly banal question: What books do your boys most enjoy reading with you?

I provided our favorites list and offhandedly mentioned that more importantly, we had a few “duds.”  She was intrigued and asked to hear more…

Oh how we relished the thought of sharing our true literary feelings.  In just three years we now fancy ourselves highly knowledgeable consumers of kidlit.  Below is an unedited excerpt of my exchange with Susan in the form of a sixth grade issue essay:

The Story of Babar

Babar the Elephant is a French children’s fictional character from the 1930’s.  Opponents of the story believe it is a strangely materialistic narrative of entitlement and self-evident incest.  Proponents of the story believe it is a classic children’s tale depicting the time-honored rags to riches parable.

Jaimie:  My husband James got all excited when I told him I needed to write a list of all the “bad books” we own.  He’s chief bedtime reader as I find I fall asleep and end up sleeping in Jake’s bunk bed all night…  we have a stash of non-famous books that we’ve gotten over the last 3 years that you would probably never come across and therefore I won’t name them.  The ones that come to mind that we would recommend avoiding are:

• Babar: I remember liking this as a kid.  As an adult, I find it super weird.  The elephant is overly interested in material wealth (clothes, cars) from his rich elderly lady benefactor.  I don’t think it promotes the right values.  Then he goes back to Africa and marries his cousin.

Susan:  Meantime, don’t trash Babar out of hand.  Yes, the story line has some weird bits but so does every fairy tale.  I see Babar as a child’s version of The Hero’s Journey, with the hero played by an elephant in the streets of 1930’s Paris instead of by a country bumpkin in medieval rural Europe.  Abandoned orphan boy achieves success and fulfills his destiny.  Whatever.  It’s the plotline for virtually every Disney cartoon.  Babar’s fixation on material wealth and comforts could have been the author’s reaction to the Great Depression.  And marrying a cousin (of unspecified nearness — third cousin twice removed?) doesn’t shock most five-year-olds.

Your comments reminded me, however, of the very hostile reaction I initially had to Where the Wild Things Are: a nasty little boy who throws a tantrum and screams I hate you at his mother is rewarded with self-indulgent dreams of being the king controlling all the wildest and fiercest animals, and upon awakening finds his dinner still waiting for him — i.e., Mom caters to him no matter what he does.  Yccch.  I guess it’s all a matter of perspective.

In conclusion, proponents of Babar clearly illustrate the noble and characteristic storyline and its similarities to venerated literature.  Opponents demonstrate it is super weird.