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Bettelheim uses the story of Jack and the Beanstalk as an example of metaphor. Bettelheim claims that in the story, the cow metaphorically represents the mother. The cow, which for the most part, provided for the families needs..... no longer gave milk. Jack's mother, in a similar way, had stopped nurturing her son. Thus, Jack cast away his mother in the same way the family had cast away the cow.

Source(s)

The Uses of Enchantment: The Meaning and Importance of Fairy Tales