Fragile Things: Short Fictions and Wonders
Based on the instructions given in the poem 'Instructions,' what kind of morals are needed to survive fairyland?
help

help
The poem tells the reader to make sure they say please, and to help any creatures that need help. The twelve months may do favors for a person who is polite. We are told that favors will be returned and debts be repaid, and again are reminded to mind our manners. It is clearly important to always be kind, courteous and polite in fairyland. The moral is that if a person is helpful, hopefully others will be helpful in return. The reader is warned not to be jealous of their sister, and to remember that diamonds and roses can be just as unpleasant as toads and frogs. This means that beauty should not necessarily be valued above other traits, and that pretending to be nice does not disguise negative feelings in the heart. Jealousy is not a healthy emotion and only leads to bad things. Most importantly, it seems, a person should trust themselves and their own heart. They should not lose faith or hope.