The cunning Goldilocks, stealing husbands and what not

She decided to make them her own, without any remorse or social graces, with complete selfishness and disregard.

She is a girl born with a golden spoon, and her neighbour is a lad much like her. They both believe that their rights are more important than others’, and hence they live to take all from others, unabashedly and without permission. Social rule breaking is their forte.

Case 1:

From what I know about Her, she has never had an original idea of her own. She instead goes into people’s lives and lurks on their Facebook profiles and pages, (Facebook is easily an analogy of the home of the three bears) plagiarises their ideas and passes them on as her own. She keeps doing it time and time again.

A few years ago, she forced her husband to invest in publishing a magazine for Her since an acquaintance of Hers was making a name by publishing a book as well. She could not help but break the social rule and jumped into the same scene, having no inclination for writing but trying hard to steal another’s idea.

From runway clothing exhibitions to wanting to be a pseudo socialite (if there is any such thing), what is it that she has not tried? Let me clarify here that I certainly believe that trying and experimenting with new ideas is a great thing, and being successful at them is certainly a cause for applause and laurels, provided the ideas are your own to begin with.

But then again, at the risk of contradicting myself, the greatest social networking site is suggested and believed to have come about the same way; through social fraud.

Case 2:

She went into a home uninvited (implying family, friend, acquaintance, a decent stranger). She liked the children and the husband so much that She decided to make them her own, without any remorse or social graces of any kind, with complete selfishness and disregard.

Case 3:

He was a selfish kid who grew up to be a ruthless lawyer. He peeked through the window and found the house to be silent. He noticed the house to be silent and uninhabited for a while – maybe it was the owner’s vacation home or maybe the owner was a rich dead man and his heirs were unaware of the existence of this property – and hence, He knew how to work the corrupt system and illegally made the house his own. He now owns the house, porridge, bed and chairs.

What does the tale of Goldilocks and the Three Bears imply?

The story has the spoilt blonde girl repeat the same mistake again and again. She enters a home uninvited, initially wanting to simply look around. Eventually she starts tasting, devouring, breaking everything and gets so comfortable that she decides to take a nap in the very home she has broken into. The repetition of three actions repeated three times each – tasting the porridge, sitting in chairs, and sleeping in the bed – enforces the moral lesson that social rule breaking, such as physical trespassing – or trespassing on others ideas – has consequences, insisting that self-control and good judgment must remain the cornerstone of society. The narratives of Goldilocks’s actions are reinforced by the reaction of the law abiding bears. They are shown to experience anger and sadness that their personal space is violated.

In our personal lives, we frequently come across such Goldilocks. That friend of yours, or an acquaintance, who was extra friendly and appeared well-groomed and pretty like the golden haired girl of the tale, and stole your intellectual ideas without remorse in the end, right? There are also those who force their way into our lives, barging into our personal space taking away all that may be sacred to us.

The three bears are the joint protagonist of the story. The civilised bears do not live in caves, but in a home, depicting a symbol of community, not barbarism. The idea that the bears are eating porridge implies that they are not carnivorous or harmful to anyone, but instead it’s the other way around. It is implied that Goldilocks is a selfish, rude child who only appears harmless, much like the social rule breakers we are surrounded by. The trusting bears left their front door unlocked, much like the unsuspecting people who leave their guard down and are hence violated by the Goldilocks of society.

The bears, through their trusting innocence, become the classic victims of a home intruder. Since they are good, they trust the world at large and neglect locking their door, or in the three aforementioned cases, the three victims neglected to put their guard up.

Sur La Lune suggests:

“Goldilocks, while a house breaker, home wrecker, and food stealer, is not described as an outright thief. The story does provide food for thought about Goldilocks’s moral limits in the story, that is, if any exist. Goldilocks’s intrusion into the bedchamber is the ultimate trespass in the story and consequently the last one to take place. Except for illness and other extenuating circumstances, guests are not usually invited into the bedrooms of homeowners. So far, Goldilocks has intruded where a guest might never be invited. Goldilocks’s limitless audacity is illustrated by her outrageous entrance into the bedroom and trying of the beds.

All of the story’s events have been leading to this confrontation. What will happen? This simple story is a great tool for teaching social rule breaking and the value of self-control with regard to what belongs to others.”

Many modern day authors have explored Goldilocks’s illegal activities and their consequences. More than one play and short story has centred on the theme of Goldilocks’s trial for breaking and entering. The theme is also popular for mock trials in law schools.”

It may look pretty, shiny, warm, inviting and intellectual, but remember it was never yours to begin with. You can try passing it as your own, but deep inside you know you are a plagiarist and a social thief. A petty thief like little Goldilocks; now try living with that.