Faithful Johannes

Faithful Johannes - AT Type 516

My primary concern after reading this story was the moral dilemma presented at its end. It is not, of course, a dilemma for very long in the story, because that is not how fairy tales work. In any case, I'll get to that in a moment and ask for your contributions to a discussion of the situation. First, I would like to reflect on the issue of friendship. Faithful Johannes is at its heart a story about loyalty and, in a certain sense, friendship. Although Johannes is presented as a servant to the prince in the story, he is in many ways what a lot of people would like in a good and loyal friend. He helps the prince in his time of need, plays wingman when the prince wants to win a woman, and puts his own safety on the line when he knows he can help the prince. Of course much of what he does goes above and beyond the line of common friendship, but then again very little is "common" in fairy tales.

This story, and a conversation I had with a friend today, led me to think about what I look for in a friendship and, interestingly, what I don't feel like I have found, or at least don't have at the moment. Earlier today I was rehearsing for my friend Phoebe's play, and discussing the role in which she cast me. His name is Palamon, and he serves as a mercilessly honest critic for the main character, a playwright. He loves his friend, and respects his work, and because of this feels totally comfortable tearing it to pieces when asked to give his opinion. I think I would like to have this sort of friend by my side constantly when attempting to produce art, and really in everyday life. It is a certain kind of trust that enables a friend to speak the honest truth, even when it might hurt, and I'm not sure that I have that with anyone right now. I can remember feeling this absence since high school, when I felt that others perceived me as weak or sensitive and tended to treat me with a little bit of a blunted edge. I wonder if this has changed much. I don't mean to suggest that I don't think I have friends who are honest with me. I certainly think I have a few. But the honesty seems to come in only a few areas, or even sometimes to be motivated by personal bias. More often, sadly, I feel I receive condescension or reassuring platitudes when I discuss real problems with friends. I suppose it is a bit much of me to ask for a friend so brilliant, honest, and trustworthy that he or she would clearly see the truth in all of my actions and call me on it immediately, but this train of thought is being conducted by a fairy tale. The most likely cause of this deficit in the end is probably my own unwillingness to trust. On some level, I imagine I am afraid of the honest criticisms I could receive if I were to open up less discriminately.

In any case, I'd now like to bring up the moral dilemma I mentioned earlier. For this I hope you'll read the story to get a grasp of the situation. At the end of Faithful Johannes, the petrified servant tells his master that he can pay for his wrongdoing and bring Johannes back if he sacrifices his two children. Since the story takes place in Fairy Tale Logic, the prince decides to go ahead with it and lops off his sons' heads without all that much deliberation, and soon enough the servant and the sons are all restored to life and everyone lives happily ever after. Assuming a situation wherein I didn't know I was in a fairy tale, I would, in this situation, gladly leave my faithful friend as a statue for all eternity. Is this heartless of me? Those who know me well will hopefully not be offended and understand when I say I would gladly leave them in the lurch to protect any child, let alone my own, but I wonder if my personal biases against (even the most loyal of) adults are clouding my judgment. I therefore would like to open the floor to discussion. What would you do if faced with the prince's dilemma? Would you trade the lives of your young children for the life of your most faithful friend, a man who has essentially given his life to bring you happiness? I look forward to hearing your ideas. As always, I thank you for reading, and hope you never have to make this decision in real life.