Michael Ende's Fantasy, The Neverending Story

Michael Ende's Fantasy, The Neverending Story, conveys themes on an allegorical level that can be interpreted through the characters, events, locations and objects. A theme that jumps out in this story is that being yourself might not be the quickest answer to happiness, but it is the most fulfilling in the long run. Symbols that help to convey this theme were Bastian and his insecurity, the Auryn and the power and responsibility that it comes with, the House of Change and the mentioning of what Bastian truly wanted, and the Water of Life that comes with the realization of what he truly wanted. Bastian embodies the theme of being insecure about yourself throughout the fantasy and up until the very end because he is unhappy with

Bastian shows Grograman the reverse side of the gem. He asks "What do you suppose it means? Do What You Wish." He then says to Grograman "That must mean I can do anything I feel like. Don't you think so?" (Ende 238). Grograman gives an insightful answer on Bastian's question which was "It means that you must do what you really and truly want and nothing is more difficult" (Ende 238). This gives perfect insight on the theme because it is saying that Bastian is having difficulty accepting who he is and that will be his greatest obstacle to overcome. Bastian makes another significant change to his personality by acquiring the gift of courage. "And again something was taken away from him, namely, the memory of his past timidity" (Ende 239). This was a major quote in the fantasy because it helped us in realizing that every wish would take away knowledge of his former self. Later in the fantasy we knew for sure that every wish would take away a little of his knowledge because Dame Eyola said "But with every wish fulfillment the little boy lost a little part of his memory of the world he had come from" (Ende 402). Bastian could not figure out what he truly wanted but he was almost out wishes because he was also running out of memories. He

"And that was very important to the little boy, because up until then he had always wanted to be someone other than he was, but he didn't want to change" (Ende 402). This is from a story Dame Eyola was telling to Bastian this is the first mentioning of what Bastian truly wanted. "I did everything wrong, he said. I misunderstood everything. Moon Child gave me so much, and all I did with it was harm, harm to myself and harm to Fantastica" (Ende 409). This is a great point of realization for Bastian because he realizes that he took all of the power and wishes to his head. He also realizes that he let Moon Child down by not using the power of Auryn responsibly. Bastian is gaining the knowledge of all of the mistakes that he has made since entering the world of Fantastica. The Water of life plays a significant role because he is now remembering who he is and realizes that he no longer has to pretend or want to be someone that he is not. He has an epiphany in which he realizes that he is the most happy when he is not fretting on how he looks or acts. The water also helps to save him from living in Fantastica forever by restoring his memories. He was very close to losing his last memory which was his name. The water is a symbol that represents the rebirth of Bastian. It also symbolizes the water rinsing all of the fake layers of clothing and the appearance of being a prince away. Not only does the water play a role in