Emperor's New Suit

Author: Hans Christian Andersen
Genre: Fairy Tales

Summary
In this story, the Emperor always took money from the tax collectors to buy new clothes. He didn't care about hardly anything else except his new clothes. One day, two tailors came to the land wearing very exquisite suits, and they claimed they could use magical silk to make suits--silk that was invisible to anyone who did not have enough intelligence or education to hold their office in the kingdom. Once the Emperor heard of these two men, he demanded that they be brought to his palace. He wanted a suit made of this magical silk to discover if his servants and other people in various jobs were actually good in their jobs--then he could know whether to keep them there or not. He hires the tailors, and they get to work. He gives them their own room, fancy equipment, and everything they need to get the job done. After about a month, they still weren't finished and the Emperor began to worry. He decided to send the High Minister of the palace to check up on the two tailors--he couldn't see the suit fabric but he pretended like he did so that no one would think he wasn't fit for the job. He was gone for a long time and so the Emperor then sent the captain of the guard to check up on the High Minister. He also could not see the fabric yet pretended to see the fine detail of it. They both returned to the Emperor and told him of the greatness of the suit. The Emperor then took himself and his whole entourage to see the suit--he couldn't even see it! Despite that fact, he pretended he could see the wonderfully made suit.

The next morning, the tailors came to give the Emperor his suit for him to wear at the procession in honor of their work. He could not see the clothes, yet he pretended to put them on. Throughout the procession, everyone pretended they could see the suit in fear of others thinking they were not worthy of their jobs. One brave, innocent young boy--with nothing to gain and nothing to lose--exclaimed that the Emperor was wearing no clothes at all. The word spread until finally, the Emperor could hear the whispers from all around.

Reaction
When I first read this, I thought it was an interesting story. It's somewhat strange, yet it brings across a good message. Often times, people are afraid of the judgments from other people so they hide it. Like the young boy, we shouldn't hide what we feel. It's better to be honest than to pretend we're something that we're not.

Recommendations
I don't know that I would recommend this story to anyone; it wasn't my favorite. But I think it's a good message for any age.

Problems/Conflicts
There weren't many conflicts, except for the fact that the Emperor was wearing no clothes. Some parents might not want their children to read that.

Of Andersen's fairy tales I also read The Little Mermaid, The Ugly Duckling, and The Wild Swans.