Literature is the foundation of life.

It places an emphasis on many topics

from human tragedies to tales of the ever-popular search for love. While it is
physically written in words, these words come alive in the imagination of the mind,
and its ability to comprehend the complexity or simplicity of the text. That means
the scope of literature in describing the human life is wider than the scientific
scope.

Literature enables people to see through the lenses of others, and sometimes
even inanimate objects; therefore, it becomes a looking glass into the world as
others view it. It is a journey that is inscribed in pages and powered by the
imagination of the reader. Literature is an art form. It can be in the form of a
poem, a prose, a story, a novel or a drama. It is the platform for an individual to
express his thoughts or ideas through language.

The literature is universal not special for single group of people. It deals with
the humans regardless of their ethnic, religious and gender affiliation and even
regardless of their age. Literature in this sense deals with the human life an time
and anywhere. So that literature doesn't deal with only English man to be English
literature but it is for any man thus it is universal. Literature doesn't especial for
adults since the children are human and located with the humanity. I chose the
story of Thumbelina which is an American literature as my academic text.

Thumbelina

by Hans Christian Andersen

A long time ago and far, far away an old woman was sitting in her rocking chair
thinking how happy she would be if she had a child. Then, she heard a knock at the
door and opened it. A lady was standing there and she said, "If you let me in, I will
grant you a wish." The old woman let the woman in firstly because she felt pity,
secondly because she knew what she'd wish for...a child. After she washed the lady
up and fed her, she saw that she was really beautiful.

The lady slept soundly all night long and then right before she left, she said, "Now,
about your wish. What do you want?"
 The lady thought about most people's wishes to be richest in the world, most
powerful person, the smartest, and the prettiest. But the old woman wished for

something the lady could not believe. She said, "I would like a child."

"What did you say?" she asked because she was astonished at what the old lady
asked for. The old lady repeated what she said. "I would like a child."

The lady then placed a tiny seed in the old woman's hand and gave her instructions.
"Plant this seed, water it carefully, watch over it, and give it your love. If you do all
those things, then you will have a child."

So the old woman did all of those things the lady had told her to. In a week, there
was a beautiful yellow flower in place of the seed. The next day, the flower bloomed.
Inside the flower was a beautiful little girl who was the size of the woman's thumb so
she a called her Thumbelina. She made her a little dress out of golden threads.
Thumbelina slept in a walnut shell and brought the old woman joy and happiness.

But, one day when Thumbelina went down for her nap, a frog hopped through the
open window and said, "You will be a perfect bride for my son," and she took
Thumbelina to a lily pad and hopped off to find her son.

Thumbelina cried and some little guppies heard her and chewed the roots off the lily
pad to help her escape. Thumbelina's lily pad floated away. A few hours later, she
finally stopped floating. During the summer, she ate berries and drank the dew off
the leaves. But then winter came and she needed shelter. A kindly mouse let her
stay with it, but it said, "You'll have to marry my friend, Mole, because I cannot keep
you for another winter."

The next day she went to see Mole. In one of tunnels, she found a sick bird and said,
"Poor thing, I will bury it." Then she found out that it was still alive and she cared for
it until was ready to fly. It flew off. That fall she nearly had to marry Mole. But then
she heard a familiar tweet and an idea popped up in the bird's head.

"You can come down to the warm country," said the bird, so Thumbelina hopped on
the bird's back and flew to the warm country. The people there who were like her
renamed her Erin. She married a prince and she lived happily ever after.
Synthesis:

The story of ''Thumbelina'' is a literary fairy tale starts with a woman who
wants a child. She does not know where to find one, so she goes to a witch who
gives her a seed. ''Thumbelina'' is a story about a miniature girl who meets up with
various animals. She eventually meets a prince her own size and marries him. The
theme of the tale is the role of fate, chance in human life. It subjects the heroine to
many trials in which she gains invaluable life experience, and her appearance,
character and emotional qualities remain unchanged. A romantic, a big child, a
writer himself believes that a kind heart and beauty are always rewarded, that
happiness for such people is inevitable.

I have found that Thumbelina’ contains many of the classic tropes of fairy
tales: a kindly but lonely heroine, a frog suitor, a prince with whom the heroine
lives happily ever after. The tale is based on the opposition of good and evil, light
and darkness, tenderness and rudeness, large and small.

The tale of the tiny girl explores many themes, from kindness to greed.
Several characters are motivated by greed in wanting Thumbelina for themselves.
Another theme is peer pressure, as the cockroach questions if Thumbelina is as
pretty as he thought she is just because his friends say she is ugly. Thumbelina is
a victim of her circumstances, but finally finds happiness at the end. The tale is all
account of the development of good and behavioral humanity from babyhood to
adult age.

References:

Abood, Ayaad. “(PDF) definition of literature | Ayaad Abood.” Academia.edu,

https://www.academia.edu/9455871/definition_of_literature. Accessed 22 August
2022.

D, Alida. “Thumbelina by Hans Christian Andersen | Summary & Moral - Video &
Lesson Transcript.” Study.com, 30 June 2022,
https://study.com/learn/lesson/thumbelina-hans-christian-andersen-summary-
moral.html. Accessed 22 August 2022.
Hans Christian, Andersen. “Thumbelina.” American Literature,
https://americanliterature.com/childrens-stories/thumbelina. Accessed 22 August
2022.

“Importance of literature | Essay and speech.” Importance of stuff,

http://importanceofstuff.com/literature. Accessed 22 August 2022.