The Story of a Youth who went forth to learn What Fear Was
I was reminded of this fairytale while at the subway waiting for a train. While standing alongside other people, I witnessed a scenario that I can only describe as ‘shuddering.' A young man appearing to have been dared by the group of friends he was walking with decided to cross the rail tracks about one second before the oncoming train. The train was at high speed and had been hooting for a minute, but the young man did not seem to care. He went for the dare and luckily escaped alive. The fairy tale is about a young man who doesn't know how to shudder and has to walk far and wide to learn how it feels to shudder. Now the lack of shudder in the young man at the subway is only relatable to the absolute lack of fear in the young man in the fairytale. Fear is an emotion that is synonymous with the human race.
It's unique to come across individuals who are fearless. However, amongst the human race are people who do not recognize fear as a threat but rather as something to compete against. To them, fear is but an emotion that can be tamed and suppressed. While in the fairytale, the young man is so devoid of fear, he has to seek it, the incident at the train portrays a young man who has suppressed his fear for the sake of adventure. I am quite sure he was unsure of whether or not he would survive the dangerous stunt but threw fear into the air and allowed his courage to take the place of fear. Perhaps he was like the man in the fairytale seeking for something that would cause him to shudder.