Bettelheim's Influence Of Obedience To The Law And Authority

Often times freedom is stressed in an American society rather than obedience to the law and authority. In the past, the population has focused on obeying the law simply since it is the law of the land. In contrast, present day society frequently overlooks obedience as a value as well as laws themselves, leaving room for disobedience and disrespect of the authorities set in place above them. This brings up many conflicting issues faced by individuals on a daily basis. Moreover, it gives rise to a number of questions pertaining to the influence it has socially and in a work/school environment, presenting a prominent inquiry about respect that stands out above the rest, that is: In a society focused on freedom to what extent is respect for authority

Fighting for the respect of authority they assume they deserve among other siblings and even from their parents, it can be hard to determine what is actually at the foundational cause of their actions. Some aspects expressed in the Bettelheim’s article include the the impact the things they watch and listen too influence their very perspective of live and their personalities. In one such instance the author discusses the impact princesses, like Cinderella, have on their children. Upon seeing the story, they subconsciously feed off of the fact that the plot “shows that behind the surface of humility of Cinderella lies the conviction of her superiority to mother and sister.”(Bettelheim pg282) As a result, the author comes to the conclusion that children are often less inclined to feel guilty for their actions towards their siblings when presented with stories like Cinderella that set the vile nature of her step-sisters and parent figure into perspective. Furthermore, the author states so in the body of his article saying, “children, on hearing her story, feels have need not feel guilty about his angry

An example of this is examined in Bettelheim’s article as well, stating a parents perspective of the occurrence saying “One day when she was asked to fetch some salt she said as he was doing so, ‘Why do you treat me like Cinderella?’”(pg282) Along with feeling as though they have the right to disobey, comes a correlation with freedom they see their parents express. Drawing upon instances from fellow students, the correspondence can be seen today. Many times parents come home only to express their distaste with something their boss, coworkers, or political figure did, intending their disapproval to be heard for the ears of their spouse. Although these cases of expressing distant seem to only directly influence those is the workforces they describe, such aspects impact the children of said parents as well. Unknowingly to the parents, children pick up and follow in the footsteps of their parents as much so as with the Cindrella story. In a desire to please them they often attempt to become like them, implementing the disrespect their parents have for their authority figures into their very own lives. Sometimes this is can be reflected back on to their teachers, which can be seen as a child “is gradually subjected to even more critical attitudes as he is being