Wish* Biography

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Biography Wish*

A wish is a hope or desire for something. Fictionally, wishes can be used as plot devices. In folklore, opportunities for "making a wish" or for wishes to "come true" or "be granted" are themes that are sometimes used.

In Literature

offering wishes, illustration by John Bauer to Alfred Smedberg's The seven wishes]]In fiction a wish is a supernatural demand placed on the recipient's unlimited request. When it is the center of a tale, the wish is usually a template for a morality tale, "be careful what you wish for"; it can also be a small part of a tale, in which case it is often used as a plot device.

The template for most fictional wishes is The Book of One Thousand and One Nights, specifically the tale of Aladdin, although in the tale of Aladdin the actual wishes were only part of the tale. Also, Aladdin's demands, while outrageous per se, were mainly variations on wealth (which is still often taken as the most 'common' request).

Classically the wish provider is often a spirit, jinni or similar entity, bound or constrained within a commonplace object (Aladdin's oil lamp for example) or a container closed with Solomon's seal. Releasing the entity from its constraint, usually by some simple action, allows the object's possessor to 'make a wish', ie. present their demands to the entity.

The subservience of the extraordinarily powerful entity to the wisher can be explained in a number of ways. The entity may be grateful to be 'free' of its constraint and the wish is a thank-you gift. The entity may be bound to obedience by its 'prison' or some other item that the wisher possesses. The entity may, by its nature, be unable to exercise its powers without an initiator.

Other wish providers are a wide variety of, more or less, inanimate objects. W.W. Jacob's Monkey's Paw is a well-known example of this. Piers Anthony puts a spin on this idea in Castle Roogna: a magic ring claims to grant wishes, and then claims credit when a wish comes true, apparently from the unaided efforts of the characters -- but every wish made on the ring sooner or later comes true.John Grant and John Clute, The Encyclopedia of Fantasy, "Rings", p 813 ISBN 0-312-19869-8

Some wishes appear to be granted by nothing in particular. Snow White's mother's wish for a beautiful child might have been a coincidence,Maria Tatar, The Annotated Brothers Grimm, p 243 W. W. Norton & company, London, New York, 2004 ISBN 0-393-05848-4 but the father's wish in The Seven Ravens transforms his sons into ravens,Maria Tatar, The Annotated Brothers Grimm, p 136 W. W. Norton & company, London, New York, 2004 ISBN 0-393-05848-4 just as the mother's wish in The Raven transforms her daughter. This is common in a tale involving a person, male or female, wishing for a child, even one that is a hedgehog, or a sprig of myrtle, or no bigger than a hazel nut -- and promptly having such a child.

The number of wishes granted varies. Aladdin had an unlimited number. As in the Charles Perrault tale The Ridiculous Wishes, three is the most common,Maria Tatar, The Annotated Brothers Grimm, p 166 W. W. Norton & company, London, New York, 2004 ISBN 0-393-05848-4 but others may be granted to fit the constraints of the tale. Several authors have spun variations of the 'wish for more wishes' theme, though some disallow this as 'cheating'.

In many stories the wording of the wish is extremely important. For example, characters often say, 'I wish I was wealthy.' This wording could be taken literally, the wish granted so that at one time the wisher was (used to be) wealthy but is not any more. Saying, 'I wish to be wealthy', then because 'to be' refers to either the present or the future, they would become wealthy.

A common problem is the granter of the wish being either extremely literal or through malice granting the request in a manner designed to cause maximum distress (such as a request for wealth being granted through inheritance/insurance on the death of a loved one). Certain authors have also tried an "always on" approach: the careless use of the word 'wish' in everyday conversation having, often unpleasant, consequences. An example is seen in the 1967 film Bedazzled and its 2000 remake.

In Practice

The making of wishes occurs outside of the realm of fictitious magical items, and there are various traditional circumstances in which somebody can make a wishes.

Some traditional opportunities for wishing

Prayer.
Blowing out candles on a birthday cake.
Blowing a fallen eyelash off of a friend's finger.
Blowing dandelion achenes.
Holding one's breath for the entirety of a tunnel.
Tossing a coin into a wishing well or fountain.
Two people locking pinky fingers after saying the same thing at the same time (as an alternative to a "jinx").
Seeing a shooting star.
Seeing 11:11 on a clock.
Finding the wishbone in a turkey, or breaking it with another person and the person with the larger half making a wish.
Being landed on by a lady bug.
Catching a feather.
Seeing eight magpies.

Internalization of wishes

Magical possibilities aside, the act of formulating a wish can be beneficial. The wisher has an opportunity to identify what they most desire of all the things in the world. Often, wishing is a time for first becoming aware of a previously-unarticulated hope. Once identified, these hopes can become personal goals.

Children in Western society are taught to wish from a young age, yet the ethics of teaching children to wish can be a gray area. When presented with the prospect of 'wishing for anything', a child is likely to misinterpret the reality surrounding desire and longing. Whereas most adults understand that the underlying theme of a wish is to articulate hope and to identify goals, a child often does not understand reality enough to distinguish between what is fantasy and what is reality. This miscommunication may result in a false sense of security, followed by an unfulfilled wish and disappointment. The miscommunication may also inspire a child's distrust after being hurt.

Wishes in Popular Culture

The manga Doraemon is a modern spin on the theme of wish granting objects.
In The Three Princesses of Whiteland, the ring grants two wishes; it is given to the hero so he can visit his parents and then return to his wife, and so when he uses the second wish he is trapped.
An example of extended numbers of wishes is found in Douglas Hofstadter's Pulitzer Prize winning book an Eternal Golden Braid: a wish for more wishes is called a "meta-wish" and can only be granted by a "MetaGenie".
More than half a million written wishes are buried underneath the Imagine Peace Tower, a new memorial to John Lennon built on an island off the coast of Iceland.
In the role-playing game Dungeons & Dragons, "Wish" is arguably the most powerful spell a Wizard can learn, able to bend the game's reality at the cost of experience points.