The Escape of the Prisoner
When describing the escapist quality of fantasy, Tolkien doesn't shy away from calling it 'escapist;' he actually asserts that this is a beneficial quality of the genre. Certain aspects of the Secondary World may be truer and better than elements of this fallen, broken Primary World, so temporarily escaping it should be in the interest of all. Tolkien argues that this escapism is like "the escape of the prisoner," not "the flight of the deserter." The prison is a symbol of the limitations of our fallen reality, and the prisoner represents humanity, stuck inside the prison of brokenness. He should be allowed to at least envision what lies beyond those stone walls.
The Resurrection
In the essay's Epilogue, Tolkien uses the Resurrection of Jesus Christ (an event in the Christian narrative) as the ultimate example of a eucatastrophe in the overarching story of human history. Just when it seemed that death has overcome the Son of God, he rose above death, conquering the grave by resurrecting and ascending. This "sudden joyous turn," in the words of Tolkien concerning eucatastrophe, is perhaps the most wonderful moment in all of time, and it is this event which wires into the human brain the desire for a eucatastrophe, one of the most compelling aspects of fairy-stories.
Alice in Wonderland
While defining 'fairy-stories' and evaluating previous works based on his qualifications, Tolkien distinguishes fairy-stories from those stories which use dreams as a primary mechanism for experiencing the other world: he argues that the Secondary World must be presented as quite as real as the first, and being within a dream shatters this illusion of reality. He uses Lewis Carroll's Alice stories as a symbolic representation of this dream genre, which he deems of a different nature than these elusive and valuable fairy-stories.
Gulliver's Travels
Similarly, Tolkien also distinguishes fairy-stories from a genre he calls 'travellers' tales," in which main characters travel far within this physical world and come across strange and unusual things. He rules out this genre as these 'marvels' are seen in today's world, and there is just a matter of physical distance between us and these strange things. He therefore categorizes these works apart from fairy-stories, again using a particular work as a symbol for the whole genre of travelers' tales: Gulliver's Travels by Jonathan Swift.
Peter Rabbit
Tolkien also makes a clear division between fairy-stories and what he calls 'beast-fables,' in which only animals appear, thinking and speaking anthropomorphically in order to teach a moral lesson. This concealment of human thoughts behind the mask of animals, however, does not make these tales fairy-stories, nor does it transport the reader to Faërie. For a symbolic representation of these beast-fables, Tolkien turns to Peter Rabbit, Beatrix Potter's fictional creation, as well as mentioning Aesop's fables as further examples.
