CONTEMPLATING FICTIONAL AND NONFICTIONAL ORPHAN STORIES
DENNIS LEOUTSAKAS
SALISBURY UNIVERSITY
CONTEMPLATING FICTIONAL AND NONFICTIONAL ORPHAN STORIES
Throughout our lives we move from one story to the next. Whether we are
listeners, readers, writers, or tellers, “we live our lives immersed in stories”
(Simpkinson & Simpkinson, 1993, p. 1). From the many stories we encounter, both
fiction and nonfiction, the orphan-as-hero stands out as one of the most prominent
figures in literature.
This paper considers three powerful issues related to orphan stories. First, it
analyzes the legendary orphan-heroes used in fictional literature. Second, it
demonstrates the differences between imagined orphans and orphans. Finally, after
comparing the previous findings, this paper concludes by discussing the value of a
new form of fictional literature and suggesting examples of story blending that link
traditional fiction with actual narratives.
The Legendary Orphan
Other than the gods, no single persona is more dominant as a hero symbol in
literature than the orphan figure. Melanie Kimball (1999), writes: “Orphan
characters in folktales and literature symbolize our isolation from one another and
from society...orphans are clearly marked as being different from the rest of society.
They are the eternal other” (p. 559). Nowhere is this more prevalent than in fiction,
from its classical contributions to its more modern popular cultural forms of
literature. Orphans prevail in ancient poetry, folktales, fairy tales, older literary
tales, modern stories, novels, television shows, movies, and comic books. In her
article, “From Folktales to Fiction: Orphan Characters in Children’s Literature,”
Kimball explains the ascendancy of orphan characters in children’s literature: “They
embody the hope that whatever the present situation, it can change for the better”
(ibid).
Defining and Clarifying Themes
Orphans are implanted in the heroic landscape, but what is the nature of
these invented characters? Paying special attention to both folktales and
conventional fiction, Melanie Kimball suggests eleven patterns [(1.) orphans in
folktales, (2.) gender, (3.) characters, (4.) helpers and other characters, (5.)
mistreatment, (6.) quests, (7.) obstacles, (8.) surmounting obstacles, (9.) rewards,
(10.) punishment of those who oppose orphans, and (11.) orphans in children’s
LEOUTSAKAS - ORPHAN STORIES 2
literature] for comparing orphan-related stories. Using these patterns, Kimball
compares orphan stories across time and genres and shows how themes found in
older folktales are also present in subsequent fiction. In this paper, I reorganize
Kimball’s themes to create a simplified mechanism for analyzing orphan stories
extensively.
Kimball’s research can be reduced to three general categories: (1) Traditional
status: The primary distinction of this theme in the classical nature of the stories
studied. This category includes two of Kimball’s themes: orphans in folktales and
orphans in children’s literature; (2) Character development: The primary distinction
of orphan-heroes is that they are not bound by any particular formula. This
category includes five of Kimball’s themes: gender, characters, mistreatment,
quests, and surmounting obstacles; (3) Structural elements: Generally speaking,
Aristotle (trans. 1895) laid the foundation for literary thought when he argued
“...the proper structure of the Plot” is one that is “...an imitation of an action that is
complete, and whole... A whole is that which has a beginning, a middle, and an end”
(7:1-3). The story (especially in contemporary Western literary theory), therefore, is
relatively straightforward and linear, adhering to a rubric offered by Gustav
Freytag (1863). In Technique of the Drama, the German critic described the typical
plot as a pyramidal shape consisting of an introduction or beginning, rising action
or complications and developments, climax, falling action or denouement, and
catastrophe or closing action. This formula for the structural elements includes
Kimball’s four remaining themes: helpers and other characters, obstacles, rewards,
and punishment of those who oppose orphans. In this paper, the traditional status
of orphan stories, the character development within orphan stories, and structural
elements of orphan stories are the three key elements of its literary analysis.
Identifying Fictional Stories for Analysis
Before this paper can address the issue of orphan stories the term “orphan”
needs a definition. A quandary arises from a narrowly defined term and therefore,
this research allows for a more liberal definition of the term, “orphan.”
According to Webster’s New Twentieth Century Dictionary: Unabridged
(McKechnie, 1983), the term “orphan” defined in its precise and narrowest sense is
“a child whose father and mother are dead: sometimes applied to a child who has
lost only one parent by death” (p. 1263). Yet, in both a narrative sense and a literary
sense, this definition fails to capture the many dimensions of childhood
abandonment. Webster’s disregards the measureless number of foster children living
away from birth parents, the multitude of abandoned or “throw-away-kids” who are
unwanted or uncared for by parents, and an extensive network of adoptees offered
up for adoption by birth parents, all of whom have living parents yet still live as
orphans. These children are no less abandoned, or experience any lesser sense of
loss, because they are cared for by non-birthing surrogate parents or adults.
Orphan literature parallels reality. Orphan figures in literature such as
LEOUTSAKAS - ORPHAN STORIES 3
Moses, Oedipus, and Quasimodo, all have living parents, but parental existence is
secondary to the lack of parental presence. These fictional characters, and others
like them, are no less exposed because one or both parents live somewhere in the
text, or because the hero is cared for by a kindly old couple, mystical wizard,
childless king and queen, or a mythical god. These characters are orphaned, not in
the precise, literal sense but in an unexaggerated, figurative sense, because there is
a severing of child from parents (or at least, birth-mother).
The absent-parent(s), away-from-birth-home experience is the subject of this
research, and this paper considers the many characters, real or imagined, who in
their childhood are left wanting for one, but usually both, birth parents. Of course,
this is a broad interpretation of the term “orphan,” but the English language offers
no better expressions. Some literary terms, fictional and nonfictional, used in the
past are: adopted, abandoned, black market baby, exposed, foster-child, foundling,
illegitimate, indentured, parentless, ward, “bastard,” “guttersnipe,” “stray,” “street
kid,” “urchin,” “waif,” “whoreson,” and so forth, but none seem to accurately capture
the essence of the abandonment issues like the term “orphan.” In addition, precise
definitions of these other terms misrepresent this study’s target populations as well.
Therefore, since inadvertent injustice must be done to an expression for this study,
let that term be “orphan.” With such a broad definition of orphan, the vast and evergrowing supply of orphan-related fictional stories for analysis is endless.
In this paper, I use the traditional status of orphan stories, the character
development within orphan stories, and structural elements of orphan stories, to
survey seven paradigmatic stories of orphaned characters (Moses, Cinderella, The
Ugly Duckling, Tom Sawyer, Heidi, Superman, and Harry Potter). The stories range
from antiquity to modernity, and each story is carefully selected on the basis of the
following patterns: tale type (myth, folktale, literary tale, etc.), age of story (initial
appearance date); characterization (male, female, animal, animated, etc.) and,
popularity of the story (expository forms of the story).
As can be noted in Table 1, the stories are all orphan-centered tales, but
combined, they represent a wide range of variables. Because all seven of the stories
are prominent in Western, English-speaking societies, they provide a representative
cross-section of orphan stories found in the culture. There were, of course, other
famous orphan stories available for consideration, but a careful analysis of these
stories offers a wealth of insight into orphan stories in general.
LEOUTSAKAS - ORPHAN STORIES 4
Table 1. Overview of Orphan Stories Surveyed (see References for sources)
Story
Tale Type
Age of the Story
Popularity (form)
Print
Music
Fine art
Film
Animation
Print
Theater/Television
Film
Dance/Ballet
Animation
Print
Cultural allusion
Animation
Print
Theater
Film
Print
Film
Comic book
Print
Radio
Theater/Television
Animation
Film
Print
Film
Moses
Myth
Earliest Version:
1611 from ancient
manuscripts,
revised 1946-52
Cinderella
Folktale/Fairy
Tale
(human tale)
Earliest Version:
1697
The Ugly Duckling
Folktale/Fairy
Tale
(animal tale)
Literary Tale
(Americana)
First Published:
1844
Superman
Literary Tale
(European)
Pop-cultural Tale
First Published:
1880
First Published:
1938
Harry Potter
New Literature
First Published:
1997
Tom Sawyer
Heidi
First Published:
1876
Common Elements of Orphan-centered Fiction
There are some distinct features to orphan-based-literature. In her research
Kimball concludes:
It has been said there are no new stories, just retelling of old ones. A
comparison of orphan tales from around the world has shown that,
while the details of the stories are not the same, there are some
common elements that can be extracted..... These same elements exist
in literary tales. (p. 573).
Often this impression of commonality is rooted in the orphan’s solitude–a loneliness
LEOUTSAKAS - ORPHAN STORIES 5
captured by Mark Twain (1995), “Tom’s mind was made up now. He was gloomy
and desperate. He was a forsaken, friendless boy, he said; nobody loved him...” (p.
91). Whether it’s in the orphaning events, the mistreatment of the orphaned
protagonists, or the successful exploits of the orphans, there is a sense of
“sameness” among these characters whose stories seldom cross paths. Besides the
isolation of fictional orphans, there is suitable information in fictional literature to
use as a measurement against personal narratives of actual orphans. This
discussion underscores some of these patterns.
(1) Success: Orphaned characters in fiction are extremely successful. Even
Moses, who died before completing his journey, is deemed one of the greatest
prophets of all times. Linked to the successes of orphans, fantastic happenings tend
to extend beyond believability. Audiences must rely on faith or suspend disbelief to
embrace a fictional orphan story.
(2) Personality: Many fictional orphans have dual personas, fulfilling dual
roles. The most obvious is the comic book superhero genre. There are some
interesting juxtapositions in other stories as well. For instance, there are the three
quests of Moses represented by Moses the Egyptian, Moses the herder, and Moses
the prophet. The duality of fictional orphans often represents the struggle between
good and evil, but, it seems the greater struggle in orphan stories is one of
confidence. As long as orphans are afraid to realize their strengths they are doomed
to end up like Heidi in Frankfurt, “...feeling as if a great stone...” (Spyri, 2000, p.
200) obstructed her fulfillment.
(3) Sexuality: There is an absence of sexuality in fiction. There is no love
making, there is no intercourse, and there are no babies. Only comic book
superheroes are allowed romantic relationships with any depth, and these
relationships are rooted in the male-centered voyeuristic pictures offered up by
illustrators. Granted, many stories are sanitized for children, but orphan stories, in
general, follow the trend of Western folktales and succumb to the “ecclesiastical law
of social order,” that sexuality is “...dangerous and the cause of much trouble” (Von
Franz, 1993, p. 32).
(4) Sentimentality: Orphan characters possess just enough sadness to be
viewed as “underdogs.” The stories of many orphaned children in modern fictional
literature are very clearly meant to yank at our heartstrings. But excessive orphansentimentality is a relatively new phenomenon in fiction. Even though heartwrenching orphan heroes were well established before the nineteenth century,
literary tales of the era raised sentimentality to a whole new level. Kimball (1999)
writes,
“A major difference between this story (a literary tale) and folktales is
the way the main characters are rendered in a three-dimensional
manner. Literature can capture not only the action, but also the
feelings of the characters” (p. 568).
The image is further fortified by big-stage musical productions and maudlin
LEOUTSAKAS - ORPHAN STORIES 6
Hollywood movies.
(5) Race: Classical orphan heroes in Western literature are depicted as White,
Euro-centric characters, and there are only a few weak counterhegemonic
movements of resistance. As with much of main-stream Western media
representations (Hall, 1995), people of color in popular orphan stories are banished
from texts altogether (e.g., Heidi, Cinderella, Superman, etc.) or they are relegated
to minor, stereotypical roles, like Injun Joe’s and Jim’s positioning in The
Adventures of Tom Sawyer.
The orphan literature used in this chapter is fertile for analysis. Wretched
orphans prevailing in fictional literature eases the mind and warms the soul. It is
entertaining to dwell in childhood fantasies, sharing time with uplifting characters
who do not have to worry about racism or deal with the inequities of socioeconomics, but unfortunately, fictional orphan stories are inaccurate and incomplete
depictions of orphans. Not surprisingly, the orphan stories found in Western fiction,
and the stories orphans tell of living as orphans in Western societies, do not mirror
one another.
Orphans in Western Society
Stories of the orphaning experience are spellbinding. Like horrendous disasters,
orphan narratives compel us to stare (or at least peek) at the tragic aftermath of
separation. But what do anecdotal orphan stories offer society? They provide us
with a means for critically examining the orphaning experience.
Findings from Stories Told by Living Orphans
Based on modern research, anecdotal reports, participants that were
interviewed for this study, and my own experiences, it is difficult to draw any
conclusive inferences about orphans in general. There is no way to establish, or
even estimate, the number of orphans in the U.S. culture. After hearing or reading
hundreds of orphan stories, it is hard to find or suggest a sense of commonality
among orphans, and in actuality, the contrasts between the stories of orphans is
often so great it is virtually impossible to claim any sense of consensus. A more
careful scrutiny of orphan narratives, nonetheless, offers evidence of some recurring
responses to orphaning that hold “true” for many orphans. This discussion
underscores eight recurring patterns found in orphan narratives and research.
(1) Dealing with Losses: There are least two significant issues to arise from
this research: (a) The consequences of orphaning are usually severe and deeply
traumatic; and (b) even though surrogate parent figures (social workers, academic
researchers, grandparents, foster parents, etc.) adhere to one of the many grief
models, orphan children cannot be expected to grieve in a logical manner.
(2) New Places: There are complex environments that foster orphans. After
parental loss most orphans do not end up in a family situation parallel to the home
environment initially offered by the biological parent(s). There is movement both up
and down the socio-economic scale; there are racial cross-overs; there are familial
LEOUTSAKAS - ORPHAN STORIES 7
and non-familial adoptions; and at times children are forced to create their own
substitute families. Often, it is very difficult to find a “fit” for an orphan and a
surrogate family.
(3) Trusting is Not Easy: Trust is the “Achilles heel” of orphans. Orphans
often continue their warranted childhood distrust of intensely committed
friendships into their adult lives. As a result, many young adult orphans have a
difficult time establishing deeper, more meaningful, and longer lasting
relationships with other young adults. Emotional withdrawal is an ongoing concern
of orphans.
(4) Race Matters: Orphaning disproportionately affects children of color. Postorphaning racism reflects a deeply profound contemporary social issue. The
theoretical probability of an orphaned child being identified as in need of
psychiatric, psychological, or emotional help is dependent on a complex set of
circumstances and variables. Kowal (1983) explains how race is reflected in the past
century: “...adoption as it existed 20 to 50 years ago was largely a service by white
professionals for white infants and families...Negro families were more apt to make
informal arrangements through family and community” (p. 39). Impoverished
minority children who are orphaned simply do not access social service systems
with the same frequency and in the same manner as white middle-class adoptive
families. Only lately, with the large number of white middle-class adults
participating in cross-racial adoptions, are societies more willing to aggressively
and significantly address the trans-racial issues of orphaning and adoption.
(5) Searching for Roots: There is an emotional “push-pull” of orphans towards
their biological parents or family. Orphans tend to resist contacting biological
parents and family members with whom they have not had, or only had limited,
previous contact. The lack of contact is usually accompanied by an array of positive
fantasies about absent biological parents. In spite of the initial resistance and
optimistic images, most orphans have some form of later-in-life adult contact with
extended biological family members. Very few orphans experience a life not
knowing, or never contacting, any biological family member. The few that do not
contact their biological families are usually orphaned at, or near, birth, and
transported out of easy communication distance from their biological families. For
orphans who do get in touch with distant relatives, reunions vary in structure and
intensity. These reunions fluctuate from happy and optimistic to strained and
hurtful, with many reunions being “bittersweet” in nature.
(6) Self-blame: When describing their childhood experiences, orphans often
remember blaming themselves for unavoidable incidents. Even as adults looking
back at their childhoods, orphans have a tendency to use depreciative language to
describe themselves during their adolescence and other transitionary periods. The
results of this finding imply that current strategies for enhancing the self-esteem of
orphans are limited and insufficient.
(7) Having Children: There are a variety of views that orphans hold about
giving birth. Several do not want to have children. Those who do have children tend
LEOUTSAKAS - ORPHAN STORIES 8
not to relinquish custody of their biological offspring. In addition, few orphans are
willing to relinquish their children to non-relatives. Most abortions and
relinquishments among orphans occur prior to the twenty-fifth birthdays of the
orphan-parents which would indicate immaturity as the root cause for
abandonment. While there is some evidence of social problems, like alcoholism and
sexual abuse, being intergenerational, there is no indication that the same holds
true for orphaning.
(8) Gender Differences: The final three findings are all related to gender
differences. They are: (a) There is disparity between the number of female and male
respondents involved in orphan and adoption studies–females consistently respond
in greater numbers. (b) Male interviewees tend to imagine their absent biological
fathers disapprovingly, while female interviewees tend to imagine their biological
fathers in more romanticized terms. (c) Orphan girls are significantly more at risk
for sexual abuse by surrogate parent figures than orphaned boys.
Comparisons Between True-Life-Stories and Fictional Literature
Fictional orphan literature gives readers/listeners an impression of
commonality among orphans. This impression is rooted in the orphan’s solitude and
loneliness. Through the successful exploits of fictional orphans there is a sense of
“sameness” among these characters. There are five underlying characteristics of
orphan-related fiction that form an explanation for this sense of sameness. First,
orphaned characters in fiction are extremely successful. Second, many fictional
orphans have dual personas, allowing them to fulfill a wide range of roles. Third,
there is an absence of sexuality in most orphan related fiction. Fourth, popular
orphan stories contain a fair measure of emotionalism that gets further fortified by
big-stage musical productions and maudlin Hollywood movies. Finally, most
classical orphan heroes in Western literature are depicted as white, Euro-centric
characters. In contrast, testimonies that arise from orphans’ narratives indicate
that daily lives of orphans (1) are far more mundane; (2) are generally less
consequential to society; and (3) provide rewards vastly inferior to those afforded
their fictional representatives.
While fictional stories often use orphans as heroic characters, they often
distort the orphans’ position in society. Similar to the literature, the orphaning
experience is extremely diversified. With the exception of infant adoptions, however,
the orphaning experience is usually much more violent, and much less rewarding,
than depicted in literature. While traditional fictional literature tends to downplay
the experience of orphaning, using it as a means to open a story or manage a plot,
orphans replay the orphaning circumstances over and over again in their
imaginations. For popular authors, the orphan is a blank canvas with no conflicting
background to interfere with their creative directions. Yet the same orphaning
which allows fictional writers freedom of expression, generates a never-ending
nightmare of unanswered questions for the orphans themselves. Blank canvases
provide few answers to life’s many complex questions. From the time of orphaning
and continuing throughout adulthood, the absence of parental sources of
LEOUTSAKAS - ORPHAN STORIES 9
information creates a multitude of dilemmas for orphans.
Conclusion: Narrative Discourse and Fictional Stories
Even if actual orphaning experiences haven’t been seen as a valuable source
for either fiction or social science in the past, they remain a rich subject area to be
explored in both the present and future. One mechanism for combining the
information gleaned from orphan literature, both factual and fictional, is the
“blended story.” Blended storytelling is a process of identifying parallels between
stories, then performing new versions of the stories in such a manner that the
parallels from the earlier stories become highlighted and obvious.
Blended Stories and the Value of a New Form of Fictional Literature for Orphans
The objective of blended stories is to link contemporary narrative discoveries
to the traditions and archetypes of fiction. Traditional and classical stories can be
retold with specific populations in mind. Blended stories are systemically organized
for targeted audiences. These stories are constructed from two or more different
stories with different time frames and they are grounded in different genres. At
least one story is from traditional literature and at least one story is from
contemporary society. They are selected for blending because of their common
themes.
Three examples of story blending that links traditional fiction with information from
living narratives.
There are three techniques for blending stories. The most common technique
for blending stories is a “dressing” process. This technique simply modernizes a
story in the customs and dialects of a contemporary subculture. It’s like putting
clothes on a mannequin. A great example of this type of blending is Cindy Ellie, A
Modern Fairy Tale by Mary Carter Smith (1989), in which Smith places Cinderella,
complete with West Indian dialect, in fashionable, downtown, Baltimore society.
The second method for blending stories is a “boxing” operation. This technique
treats stories like Eastern European nesting dolls. With this technique, a variety of
stories are told consecutively and their conclusions are brought together as single
ideas (morals to the stories). This style of storytelling was illustrated at the 1996
International Performance Studies Conference at Northwestern University. In a
storytelling performance, three stories, The Boy with the Copper Necklace (a Tlingit
legend), The Ugly Duckling, and a personal narrative were used to demonstrate
that people do not have to be incapacitated by their perceived disabilities
(Leoutsakas, 1996). The third technique for blending stories is a “lacing” process. It
requires infusing traditional or classical literature with ideas from modern society.
The Wild Duckling story in The Orphan Tales: Real and imagined stories of
parental loss (Leoutsakas, 2003) is an example of the lacing process. It combines
The Ugly Duckling with the findings from stories told by living orphans. All the
techniques use new versions, or adapted versions, of stories, drawing from the
known in contemporary culture. The past is integrated with the present, and
modern philosophical and social issues are witnessed through older more
LEOUTSAKAS - ORPHAN STORIES 10
established lenses.
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