Question

In the end of the story, it is a small child who reveals that the Emperor is not wearing clothes. What makes the small child different from the adults in the story?

Answer 1

There is a fairy tale called "The Emperor's New Clothes." In the story the Emperor is a vain man and always wants the newest fashions. A couple of swindlers convince him that the clothes they are making him are of such fine quality that only the most elevated people can see them. He can't admit that he's not the most elevated person, so he wears the clothes in the palace, and everyone bows down and says what a fine set of clothes he has because they are afraid to contradict the Emperor. Then he goes out and leads a parade to show off his new clothes to the people (lack of foresight on his part, unless he thinks all his people are highly elevated.) Everyone pretends to admire the clothes except one little boy who yells out "But the Emperor has no clothes." The moral is that because of pretentiousness and social hypocricy people pretend to know about or agree with certain things because it makes them look better. And also, I suppose, that the honesty of the innocent is best.

Hope that helps!