Briar Rose 2

"The fairy recognizes that many of her stories, even when by her lights comic, have to do with suffering, often intolerable and unassuaged suffering, probably because she truly is a wicked fairy, but also because she is at heart (or would be if she had one) a practical old thing who wants to prepare her moony charge for more than a quick kiss and a wedding party, which means she is also a good fairy, such distinctions being somewhat blurred in the world she comes from" (60).

This section of the story really made me analyze how I felt about the fairy. Are her actions and words geared toward helping Rose by preparing her for her future or is she just telling her scary stories to be spiteful. I think that the fairy is good. Throughout the book, she is the one constant character for Rose. Even her parents are shown as bad people, but the fairy appears to stop the bad things or tell stories of what could happen to her. I think that although the way she speaks may be sinisterly tinted, what she does is for Rose's benefit. The fairy is like a mother figure for Rose. She wants to protect her by teaching her that the world is not always a fairy tale and there is no real happily ever after.