The weaknesses of Geronimo Stilton make him even more likeable: you feel sorry for him, you laugh with him and you celebrate with him at the end, because all of his defeats become successes.
With his actions and his ability to laugh at himself, Geronimo Stilton conveys ever-present values: the importance of family, the capacity to overcome your fears, the acceptance of other peoples faults, the importance of education, consistency, approachability, open mindedness towards other cultures, curiosity about what you don’t know, the knowledge that teamwork is more successful than acting as an individual, world peace, friendship, love, solidarity, honesty, loyalty, sincerity, and respect for the elderly and those with lesser abilities.
Geronimo Stilton’s stories are adventurous and full of surprises but are not exaggerated or use vulgarity. In his stories there are no weapons, violence, alcohol, tobacco, gambling, hunting, violation of laws or rude words, behavior with a disregard for safety, racism, magic, astrology, or deviant behavior.
Geronimo Stilton’s behavior is based on universal ethical values, like being approachable for others, the desire to do good, the commitment to grow and improve oneself. Additionally, Geronimo is brought to life with a healthy optimism: he is never discouraged in negative situations. At that moment, he may become depressed, even practically inconsolable. However, this state of mind never lasts long and is replaced by positive action.
Geronimo Stilton lives in a multi-cultural society, based on the principles of respecting diversity. Furthermore, Geronimo is very aware of the theme of equality between males and females both in a social and working sense.
Sometimes Geronimo feels like as though he’s the victim of the unfortunate circumstances he finds himself in. His job absorbs him completely and he feels suffocated by his responsibility to his co-workers, his friends and his family. But at the end of every adventure Geronimo has the feeling of being in complete harmony with himself and the world, because life is beautiful and he is happy to have so many friends and a family as special as his.
Geronimo teaches that real happiness is not wanting what you don’t have, but appreciating that which you do have. Attention should be focused on the positive aspects of existence and not on the what is missing. True gratification isn’t tied to fleeting and occasional pleasures, but derives from putting your energy towards positive purposes.
In his adventures, Geronimo Stilton always highlights the horrors of war, enhancing the importance of peace. His books want to be reassuring: you have to remember that the future awaiting us is beautiful. His motto is: Instead of being against war, support peace!
Geronimo teaches that confronting your fears is the simplest and most effective way of overcoming them. The best experiences require more effort but make you grow, stimulating you to develop new capabilities. Real courage is not being without fear, but confronting it whilst being aware of your limits and trying to overcome them.
For Geronimo Stilton, family and loved ones are fundamental: they are the backbone of his whole life.
Family can brighten even the darkest of days.
Disagreements between relatives and friends that can’t be resolved don’t exist, nor do problems that can’t be sorted out.
For Geronimo friendship is a fundamental value and he is ready to put all his fears aside and to face up to any difficulties in order to preserve it. Geronimo often takes the role of the ‘chance hero’, who confronts danger in the name of friendship.
Geronimo loves his job and always says: ‘Oh, how I love books! I like reading them, flicking through them, smelling them: I love the smell of fresh ink on freshly printed pages! How wonderful it is to be a publisher!’
Geronimo works a lot and is always very busy. But he does it with joy, because working is his life and he feels privileged to be able to do a job that he likes so much.
Geronimo approaches his work in a deeply ethical way: he puts his heart into every story that he writes, to inspire courage, optimism and energy.
A book written from the heart is different from others: it’s more beautiful, more real, better!
Geronimo’s attitude when facing his adversaries is never one of violent confrontation but always of competition with fair play, in the sense of civility and respect for others. He often considers the teasing from his enemies as an opportunity to practice his patience.
The word "Fantasy" derives from the Greek work "phaino", meaning to show. It is the ability of the mind to invent stories or imaginary situations (without ties to reality, lived situations or concrete references). It’s fantasy that stimulates playing, to ‘make believe’, in the sense of creating big, exciting adventures with your playmates. It must not be an escape from the real world, but a sort of trip from which you return having grown. Creative people see the world through different eyes and can see what other people can’t. They are able to solve problems looking at them from another point of view using creativity, initiative and optimism.
The term ‘imagination’ derives from the Latin words ‘imaginatio / ‘imaginari’ (imagine). It is the capacity to visualise things or situations based on the stimulus of everyday life. For example, if you read a book or watch a film, you can imagine you are the protagonist of the book or film. Imagination is a quality that, if used in the right way, can also be very useful to surpass various difficulties and fears like exams, sporting competitions or public speaking. Imagining yourself in a positive situation helps you to become more trusting and optimistic and leads to the realisation of dreams!
Magic is just a negative illusion! A magic wand is not enough to change reality or to transform things that we don’t want to accept. Since the dawn of time man has tried to find help in magic to resolve problems… but magic doesn’t exist! Magic amulets are useless, magic spells don’t work… and witches, wizards, fairies, elves, gnomes, ogres and giants only exist in fairy tales and we can only accept them as protagonists of imaginative stories.
In the world of fantasy, negative characters also exist, like ogres and witches. They are represented as evil and unkind characters, not to be imitated, because they are losers and unhappy. Good always triumphs over Evil, even if it’s not immediately verifiable.
Geronimo isn’t a hero. He’s not sporty or muscular and is afraid of practically everything. But withstanding this, at the end he is always able to win, to obtain his goals and to resolve difficult situations. This is thanks to his humour, his capacity to see the positive side of everything and, above all, to the help of his friends.
If you identify yourself with him for his weaknesses, you feel reassured: if that blunderer Geronimo can do it… you will be able to beat your fears and overcome your difficulties!
In this sense you can say that happy endings aren’t an illusion but a message of hope, because Geronimo teaches us to have faith in the future, not to be discouraged during difficult times and to build a better future.
From an idea of Elisabetta Dami
