Flash 5: The Emperor Has No Clothes!

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'The Emperor's New Clothes' is a classic folktale penned by Danish author Hans Christian Andersen. The tale is about an emperor who has an obsession for fancy new clothes, and spends lavishly on them to the detriment of his royal duties. One day two cunning imposters posing as master weavers visit the emperor’s capital. They offer to supply him with exquisite clothes that are invisible to those who are incompetent or stupid. The gullible emperor falls for their deceit and hires them. They set up looms and begin their charade, pretending to be hard at work. They ask for the finest silk and thread, which they conceal in their bags, yet pretend to be weaving all the same. The emperor sends a succession of officials, including his wise and competent minister to visit them to check the progress. Despite the apparent absence of any fabrics on the looms, the emperors trusted officials feign admiration to avoid looking foolish. 

Eventually, the weavers report that the emperor’s suit is finished. They mime dressing him and he sets off in a grand procession flaunting his non-existent finery. The townspeople uncomfortably go along with the pretense, unwilling to appear inept or ignorant, until a child blurts out that the emperor is wearing nothing at all! The people then realize that they have all been fooled. Although startled, the emperor undeterred, continues his procession with even more pride.

Lessons. 
There are many themes and lessons to be learned from the above story.

Vanity. This refers to excessive pride in or admiration of one’s own appearance or achievement. This trait often blinds us and makes us susceptible to deception, just as demonstrated by the emperor fallacious beliefs in his new garments.

Self-deception. This is the action of allowing oneself to believe that a false or unvalidated feeling, idea or situation is true. When the emperor and his officials visited the weavers to see how the process was coming along, they all saw that there was nothing being weaved on the looms, but convinced themselves otherwise. This cost the emperor because eventually he was embarrassed.

Conformity. According to psychology, conformity is described as the tendency for an individual to align their attitudes, beliefs and behaviors with those of people around them in order to fit in. We see this in the townsfolk who conform, even when they are misguided, just to please the emperor and not appear stupid. They are unwilling to challenge the emperor’s delusion.

Pride. It is often said that pride comes before a fall. This was certainly so for the emperor whose pride and hubris preceded his shameful fall. 

What insights have you drawn from this story?

Your reflections are eagerly anticipated. Tschuss!

Shilako Abutaka.
 

Comments

  1. AnonymousJune 12, 2024 at 1:21 PM

    Pride comes before a fall and that we learn to be authentic to self at all times

    ReplyDelete
  2. AnonymousJune 13, 2024 at 1:19 AM

    Let no one deceive you that which you know is true. There's beauty in simplicity

    ReplyDelete
  3. AnonymousJune 13, 2024 at 1:21 AM

    Let no one deceive you that which you know to be true. There's beauty in simplicity of life

    ReplyDelete

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