roger sale believes andersen's feelings of social and sexual inferiority were expressed in the tale by creating characters that are inferior to their beloveds. the little mermaid, for example, has no soul while her human beloved has a soul as his birthright. in “thumbelina”, andersen suggests the toad, the beetle, and the mole are thumbelina’s inferiors. they should remain in their places rather than wanting their superior. sale indicates they are not inferior to thumbelina but simply "different". he suggests that andersen may have done some damage to the animal world when he colored his animal characters with his own feelings of inferiority.