Tin Heart Just got done reading Hans Christian Andersen's "The Steadfast Tin Soldier" on Bartleby.com. For those that haven't discovered Bartleby yet, it's a great online library. I tend to go there whenever I want a quick read, but they have volumes of the longer stuff too.

If you haven't read that story yet, you ought to. I want to talk about it, and the rest of this post is assuming you've read it.

Andersen's toys are always more perceptive than their owners, but still bound to the will of their owners. Toy Story has polluted my brain, here. It's a great imagination that can breathe life so well into something as simple as a piece of tin. But here Andersen is careful never to break the reality of the toy. "The Tin Soldier" never outwardly exhibits anything other than toylike behavior. He reacts, never acts. He stands where he is placed, sees whatever he is positioned to see, and leads the reader.
Children are in a similar situation, of course, and I think Andersen's playing to that. Even when they see things adults don't, it's the adults will that drives them. But after reading about the Tin soldier melting, I can't help but wonder if H.C. Andersen's warning that a passive life brings us quickly into the flames.  ¶   0 comments