Date of Award
Spring 5-2019
Document Type
Honors Thesis
Degree Name
Bachelor of Arts
Department
English
Advisor/Committee Chair
Eric Keenaghan, Ph.D.
Committee Member
Richard Barney, Ph.D.
Abstract
Physical death can be painful, but annihilation is far more terrifying. According to Donald Winnicott, annihilation is the death of the ‘self’, ego, or identity. It’s the nagging fear that we will die and then everything we are and everything we have done will mean nothing. Or that we will wake up, as if with amnesia, having no idea who we are. Annihilation is a crisis of identity. This fear manifests in children as well. Annihilation rears its head as the fear of being turned into a toad, lost in the jungle, caged by a wicked witch, or abandoned by one’s parents in the woods. Fear of annihilation is the fear of no longer being one’s self. This is especially difficult for children to overcome as they do not have a fully formed identity to lean upon and so must rely on caregivers for support and direction. Bibliotherapy, the use of literature as a tool to teach empathy and coping mechanism, and cinematherapy, the use of film for the same purpose, can aid children in overcoming their fear of annihilation. The Grimm tales, Bambi, and Over the Garden Wall can be read in ways that promote identity formation, acceptance of vulnerability, and courageous exploration of fear.
Recommended Citation
Gibson, Kathleen, "“Into the Unknown”: Annihilation in Children’s Media" (2019). English. 33.
https://scholarsarchive.library.albany.edu/honorscollege_eng/33
