"The Third Wish"

Imagine getting three wishes, what would you do? Would you use them all? In “The Third Wish” Mr. Peters comes upon three wishes, but never ends up using the last one. In this unrealistic romance full of symbols Mr. Peters is not in control.
This story is definitely unrealistic. First of all it has a man named Mr. Peters getting three wishes. Also to make it even more unrealistic he gets them from a swan he saved who turned into a little man with a crown. Lastly he is able to talk to swans, which one is his wife because he wished for a wife and she ended up being a swan. The swan missed her sister so bad so he turned her back into a swan. Because this story is so unrealistic it must be either a irony or romance.
I know for a fact that this story “The Third Wish” follows the plotline of a romance therefore is a romance. First of all it is very unrealistic with the wishes and the swan turning into a little man with a crown. Also him getting married to a woman who ends up being a swan. This story also takes place in a perfect fairytale world. He has anything he could want that money can buy and he also gets three wishes. Next he encounters a mild conflict which is that his as pale as a swan wife is very unhappy because she saw her sister swan in the water and she wants to be back with her again. After that the conflict gets resolved by Mr. Peters turning Leita, his wife back into a swan to be with her sister swan. In the end there is a life affirming symbol when Mr. Peters dies with a smile on his face. But that is just one of the many symbols Joan Aiken intentionally placed into this short story.
Joan Aiken used many symbols to show that this story is a romance. It starts out at dusk “birds had stopped singing” also “the trees were still bare, and it was cold” which are two symbols of death, sadness, and something eerie. After that it says “a spring evening” which is a symbol of birth or a new beginning. Next there is a swan turning into a little man which as we know is a symbol of being unrealistic. Next there is some symbolism of a conflict which is that Leita used to be a swan and she is now lonely without her sister. Another symbol in this story is describing Leita as “thin and pale” which are symbols of death or illness. There are also many other symbols which fit the story of being a romance which would mean that Mr. Peters is not in control.
1There is no possible way that Mr. Peters the main character was in control. To start off Mr. Peters just happened to see the swan who then just gave Mr. Peters three wishes. Although Mr. Peters is in control of what he wishes for he is not in control of the outcome, because I do not believe that he wanted to turn a swan into his wife. Now when he gets his wife she does everything for him and even when she is a swan with her sister again they both still help him with daily needs.
In the end Mr. Peters never ends up using his last wish. If you came upon three wishes would you use them all? Unfortunately these things are only things that can happen in an unrealistic romance.