The Little Mermaid

The Little Mermaid wants many different things in this story. I cannot choose a single thing she longs for because it changes throughout the story. The Little Mermaid is the youngest of six sisters. When a mermaid turns fifteen, she is allowed to swim to the water’s surface to watch the world above. Each year, an older sister swims to the surface and then tells the Little Mermaid what she has seen. At this point in the story, the Little Mermaid is longing for her turn to swim to the surface. She wants to see the world above her and wants to see humans.

Once the Little Mermaid turns fifteen, she ventures to the water’s surface. She sees the ship with the handsome prince and falls in love with him. At this point in the story, the Little Mermaid wants love. As a result, she saves the prince from the storm. However, she is not seen by the prince and has to leave him to the young girl from the temple. The interaction with the prince leads the Little Mermaid to ask her grandmother about humans. She learns that humans have eternal souls. At this point, the Little Mermaid wants to be human and have an eternal soul.

In order to get an eternal soul, the Little Mermaid exchanges her tongue and goes through much pain. She is also risking dying brokenhearted and being turned into sea foam if the prince does not love her. The Little Mermaid is unsuccessful in her mission to obtain the prince’s love as the prince marries the girl from the temple.

Despite how many things the Little Mermaid longs for throughout the story, she is never selfish. This is proven in the Little Mermaid’s final decision not to slay the prince. The Little Mermaid cannot bring herself to kill the prince, even though it would allow her to live out her full life as a mermaid. As a result of her selflessness, she turns into some kind of spirit. She will earn her own soul by doing good deeds for others.

There are some life lessons that one can learn from this story. First lesson is to recognize what you want, and do as much as you possibly can to obtain it. However, you cannot try to reach your goals at the expense of others. This idea leads to the lesson of selflessness. Look out for others as well as yourself.