Wish
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A wish is a hope or desire for something. Fictionally, wishes can be used as plot devices, and in folklore, many things are believed to be chances to "make a wish."
In Literature
In fiction a wish is a supernatural demand placed on the recipient's unlimited request. When it is the center of a tale, the wish is usually a template for a morality tale, "be careful what you wish for" writ large; it can also be a small part of a tale, in which case it is often used as a plot device.
The template for most fictional wishes[citation needed] is The Book of One Thousand and One Nights, specifically the tale of Aladdin. Although in the tale of Aladdin the actual wishes were only part of the tale and his demands, while outrageous per se, were mainly variations on wealth (which is still often taken as the most 'common' request).
Classically the wish provider is typically a spirit, jinni or similar entity.[citation needed] The entity is bound or constrained within a commonplace object (Aladdin's oil lamp for example) or a container closed with Solomon's seal. Releasing the entity from its constraint, usually by some simple action, allows the object's possessor to 'make a wish', that is present their demands to the entity.
The subservience of the, by necessity, extraordinarily powerful entity to the wishee is explained in a number of ways. The entity may be grateful to be 'free' of its constraint and the wish is a thank-you gift. The entity may be bound to obedience by its 'prison' or some other item in the wishee possesses. The entity may, by its nature, be unable to exercise its powers without an initiator.
Other wish providers are a wide variety of, more or less, inanimate objects. W.W. Jacob's Monkey's Paw being a well-known example. The manga Doraemon is a modern spin on this theme. Piers Anthony puts a spin on this idea in Castle Roogna: a magic ring claims to grant wishes, and then claims credit when a wish comes true, apparently from the unaided efforts of the characters -- but every wish made on the ring sooner or later comes true.[1]
Some wishes appear to be granted by nothing in particular. Snow White's mother's wish for a beautiful child might have been a coincidence,[2] but the father's in The Seven Ravens transform his sons into ravens,[3] as the mother's in The Raven transforms her daughter. This is common in a tale revolving about a person, male or female, wishing for a child, even one that is a hedgehog, or a sprig of myrtle, or no bigger than a hazel nut -- and promptly having such a child.
The number of wishes granted is variable. Aladdin had an unlimited number. As in the Charles Perrault tale The Ridiculous Wishes, three is the most common,[4] but others may be granted to fit the constraints of the tale. In The Three Princesses of Whiteland, the ring grants two wishes; it is given to the hero so he can visit his parents and then return to his wife, and so when he uses the second wish he is trapped.
Several authors have spun variations of the 'wish for more wishes' theme, though some sources see this wish as 'cheating'. For example, in Douglas Hofstadter's Pulitzer Prize winning book Gödel, Escher, Bach: an Eternal Golden Braid, a wish for more wishes is called a "meta-wish" and can only be granted by a "MetaGenie".
In many stories the wording of the wish is extremely important, for example, people often say, 'I wish I was wealthy', if wording was a priority, the wish would be granted so that at one time they used to be wealthy but not any more, all because they said 'I was' in the wish. Had they said, 'I wish to be wealthy', then because 'to be', means in the future, they would become wealthy. This kind of 'literal' interpretation, however, would likely be disputed by applied linguists, who could state many examples where the past form of a verb in English is used to refer to the future*. A common problem is either the granter of the wish being extremely literal or through malice granting the request in a manner designed to cause maximum distress (such as a request for wealth being granted through inheritance/insurance on the death of a loved one). Certain authors have also tried an 'always on' approach, the careless use of the word 'wish' in everyday conversation having, often unpleasant, consequences. An example is seen in the 1967 film Bedazzled and its 2000 remake.
* 2 examples of pasts referring to the future:
Would it be ok if I switched the light on?
Imagine a future where everybody spoke the same language.
In Practice
Of course, the making of wishes occurs outside of the realm of fictitious magical items, and circumstances for making wishes abound.
Some traditional opportunities for wishing
- Blowing out candles on a birthday cake
- Blowing a fallen eyelash off of a friend's finger
- Blowing dandelion achenes
- Tossing a coin into a wishing well or fountain
- Locking pinky fingers with someone who just said the same thing as you at the same time (as an alternative to a "jinx")
- Seeing a shooting star
- Seeing the time 11:11 on a clock.
- Finding, or breaking, the wishbone in a turkey (Another version, you and a friend will pull on the two ends of the wishbone. Whoever gets the "joint" as well as their "leg" gets the wish.)
- When a lady bug lands on you.
- When you catch a feather
Internalization of wishes
Magical possibilities aside, the act of formulating a wish can be beneficial. The wisher has an opportunity to identify what they most desire ("I can have anything at all in the world--what do I want?"). Often, wishing is a time for first becoming aware of a previously-unarticulated hope. Once identified, these hopes can become personal goals.
See also
References
- ^ John Grant and John Clute, The Encyclopedia of Fantasy, "Rings", p 813 ISBN 0-312-19869-8
- ^ Maria Tatar, The Annotated Brothers Grimm, p 243 W. W. Norton & company, London, New York, 2004 ISBN 0-393-05848-4
- ^ Maria Tatar, The Annotated Brothers Grimm, p 136 W. W. Norton & company, London, New York, 2004 ISBN 0-393-05848-4
- ^ Maria Tatar, The Annotated Brothers Grimm, p 166 W. W. Norton & company, London, New York, 2004 ISBN 0-393-05848-4