Learning the Creeps

Even though we already talked about the story "The Boy Who Went Forth to Learn What Fear Was," I think it was one of the most interesting stories for the week, and I do see its relevance to the male education process. In fact, the whole reason that the boy has to leave home is because his father doesn't believe that the boy has any potential to earn a living. Everyone believes that he is too stupid to amount to anything, so of course he has to try and prove himself. I'm surprised about the fact that everyone thinks he's so stupid though. I mean, ok, not knowing what the creeps are is a little weird maybe, but I wouldn't think that a boy couldn't amount to anything just because he doesn't get afraid. What's probably most fascinating that the boy recognizes that a main part of his development will involve trying to learn how to get the creeps. That's exactly how the boy wants to earn a living. He thinks that knowing this will give him a "trick or two" so that he can earn a living. I think it's really interesting that the entire story would revolve around something that is presumably inherent. Learning how to be afraid is something that you wouldn't find in any other story (aside from fairy tales) because it is so out of the ordinary in terms of development. I also think it's amusing that he doesn't even learn what the creeps are (or thus earn a living) before he lives a comfortable lifestyle by marrying the king's daughter and living in a castle. To the outside world, it would seem that the boy had fully grown and developed, but even still, he is not completely satisfied with his own manhood until the minnows are thrown onto him.