Why You Should Love Puppets But Not Become A Puppet.

Summary

The article discusses the dual nature of puppets, as sources of joy and learning, as well as potential symbols of manipulation.

Abstract

The article explores the world of puppets, explaining their role in entertainment, education, and cultural expression. It highlights the benefits of puppetry, such as its ability to communicate visually, enhance mood, and foster creativity. The author also warns against becoming a puppet in the hands of others, emphasizing the importance of maintaining one's autonomy and integrity.

Opinions

Puppets are not just for children, but also a source of joy and learning for adults.
Puppetry is a traditional art form that can be used for spiritual, cultural, and educational teaching.
Puppets can communicate through visual art, making them accessible to people who are not literate or do not understand spoken language.
Puppets can enhance mood and stimulate creativity, social engagement, and emotional connection.
Puppets can be used to create street plays with important social messages.
The term "puppet" can also refer to a person used by others for their own purposes, which is not a desirable position to be in.
It is important to maintain one's autonomy and integrity, and not become a puppet in the hands of others.

They give you color, happiness, life’s lessons and they can also make you a pawn in other people’s hands.

Author’s own picture

Are puppets only for kids? I don’t think so. Kids love them but so do we. At all fairs and exhibitions, you see puppet dances. You pay a ticket and watch them dance around. They are colorful and have all kinds of shapes and sizes.

There are two types of puppets. One style is to play with them like soft colorful toys. They bring happiness to children and elders. Many people hang them on the walls to make their rooms colorful.

Another type of form is to have a combination of puppets and have a show. A puppet usually resembles a human being, an animal, or a mythical figure. It is animated and controlled by someone. He is called a puppeteer. To make a story the puppeteer controls the puppets through movements of their hands, arms, and control devices. The devices generally used are rods and strings to move the body, head, limbs, mouth, and eyes of the puppet.

Through the combination of the puppets, a story is made and presented as a show to an audience. The puppeteer fills the story with strange sounds, songs, and music. They are great for grabbing the attention of an audience and entertaining them.

Puppets have several benefits and important lessons to teach us. Some of them are the following:

#1. Entertainment and learning: Puppetry is traditional art, still enjoyed in different countries of the world. It can be used for spiritual, cultural, and educational teaching.

I had gone to Kerala in India and was fascinated to see their cultural dance through puppetry the dance was projecting the culture of Kerala. It was informative and interesting. Similarly, I saw a puppet show in the USA while on a cruise and understood about the vineyards of California.

#2.Communication through visual art: Puppetry is a visual art, it can communicate to people who are not literate or who do not understand spoken language. It is used ceremonially in rituals and celebrations such as carnivals.

#3. Happiness and mood enhancer: The impact of puppetry depends on the process of transformation of puppets, the color which creates magic with play. The puppets stimulate creativity, social engagement, and emotional connection. This boosts the mood and enhances the quality of life of people.

#4.Color in the lives of people: Puppets are colorful and give color to the walls of rooms. In Rajasthan in India, they are made so colorful that children even sleep with them. The children play with them as soft toys and their popularity has also given employment to the people in the handicraft industry.

#5. Puppets help in Creativity: Using puppets, children can invent stories and songs. Puppets can also be used to make creative street plays with important messages for society such as against evils discrimination, inequality, rape, and the like.

Why you should not become a puppet?

Puppets have another dimension as well. A puppet is like a pawn in a chess game. It has no standing of his own. It is a person used by others for their own purposes.

In an office, we often say this employee is a puppet in the hands of others. He will say what others say. He is the master’s voice. In politics, we often call a leader a puppet because he is manipulated by others and is not able to help others because he is pulled in another direction by people stronger than him. Often such people are looked down upon.

A puppet is like a chess piece of the lowest value called a pawn and it may move forward one square at a time to make others win. It is worth only one point, whereas a knight or bishop value three points, a rook value five points, and a queen is very valuable having nine points.

Conclusion Puppets color our life with happiness. Their vivid color enhances everyone’s mood. They give us many important lessons. They provide entertainment value. They help in improving our power to think and be creative in making stories and street plays. Illiterate people are able to understand the language as it is a visual art. It enhances the mood of people. It connects culture and society and helps to fight against the evils of society.

They have two dimensions. The bright side, bringing color, happiness and give us some lesson’s in life through the messages projected by puppetry shows. However, at the same time, we can become a pawn as we are driven by other people so we should choose not to become a puppet but continue to enjoy them.