The short story "The Emperor's New Clothes", by Hans Christian Andersen is truly unique due to its applicability to varying age groups. Whether at the age of five or one hundred five, all ages benefit from reading this short story. Many lessons can be learned from this brief story. Children can acquire simple rights and wrongs from the short tale, while adults simultaneously obtain principles to live by. The ability of the short story "The Emperor's New Clothes" to apply to a wide-range of ages displays its true uniqueness and power of its message.
             In this short story, a foolish emperor is tricked into believing that two scoundrels were excellent tailors and could produce a custom made fabric that was "invisible to anyone who is too stupid and incompetent to appreciate its quality." Word spread like wildfire of the magnificent clothing that the emperor had obtained. Word also spread that only those wise and intelligent enough to behold the garments beauty would be able to view it. When the emperor marched through the streets, showing off his nonexistent new attire everyone ranted and raved over the new clothes, not wanting to appear that they could see nothing. It was not until the remark of a child who said, "The Emperor is naked" that the crowd spoke the truth and said what they truly saw. Although startled by the child's comment, the emperor held his head higher than ever before and continued to proceed down the street in his underwear.
             The humorous plot and simple language allows readers of all ages to appreciate and relate to the story. Also, children and adults are symbolic through their portrayal as a character which adds to the relation of the story to all ages. Aside from these literary aspects, the themes or morals of the story allow readers of all ages to obtain not only laughter, but also a lesson from the story. Children can obtain simple yes and no asp...