What does everyone think of the Grimm fairy tales we had to read? I liked the Juniper Tree a lot more, maybe because I’ve never read it before or maybe because I thought it was weirdly funny like the Grimms’ Cinderella was. I don’t know if I see all of the crazy metaphors and allusions like Bettelheim does, but they’re interesting to read anyway By the way, where can we find the academic honesty paper?Â
I’m just about to email them around to you all …
When I finished reading Grimms’ Hansel and Gretel, I found the last sentences so wierd. Why did they include “My fairy tale is done”? because it implies the whole story was told in first person pov which I thought was more of a Perrault quality since he seems to add in his viewpoints sometimes or at least he did in Cinderella.
I don’t know why, but when I was reading Hansel and Gretel, the witch reminds me of the Wicked Witch of the West from Wizard of the Oz. [I didn't actually saw the whole movie, but I've seen parts of it, and her greenness really stands out to me.] Anyways, I thought it was weird how she only looks at the Hansel’s hand but never bother to touch it to see if it is really his hand. Maybe she just didn’t suspect that the children would be that intelligent. Then that let me wonder if the stepmother was mad/frustrated when Hansel and Gretel found their way home the first time. Was that why she lock the door the second time, to prevent Hansel from collecting rocks? Or was it just coincidence and I am just overthinking it? Anyhow, I think I should write an entry instead of a comment, but that takes too long. I’ll do that sometime later.
I kept thinking of the males in the fairy tales and their weak roles. I thought about how their weak and/or trusting nature could be attributed to the way that females were viewed then. Since they were viewed as weak and dumb, men did not think them capable of doing anything. Therefore, that could be why they take everything at face value since they would not think the women would lie or do anything significant.
I think that’s a very interesting way of looking at it. So does that mean that the Grimms are criticizing the patriartical society instead of upholding it? I mean, the stories portray women as the worse sex, but at the same time, they portray men in a bad way too. But I guess the men at least have conscience and know guilt, so they are the lesser bad sex. It is still a pretty depressing way of thinking about people though, I think.
It seems like at times they are criticizing the patriarchial society. I think Hansel and Gretel protrays both women and men in a bad way. On the one hand there is the evil witch and stepmother, but then there’s also the father who can’t stand up for his children. The only character that is potrayed in a really good light is Gretel. Maybe by this the Grimms are trying to emphasize that children are the good ones.
Hmm… I’m not sure if I agree that H + G portrays both women and men in a bad way. The stepmother is clearly evil, while the father is just weak – and the story seems to try as hard as possible to excuse him. Additionally, until the very end of the story, Gretel seems totally useless and just whines whenever they’re in trouble. Even her moment of triumph, when she kills the witch seems to happen almost by accident, certainly with no premeditation. And her triumph involves murdering…
I also thought it interesting how the story calls the witch who is being burned alive “godless” as part of a justification for Gretel’s actions. Hope everyone’s essay’s went well!
Dan
I also liked the Juniper tree. I had never read a story like it before, but I really enjoyed. It took me a while to get over the boy’s decapitation, though. It just reminded me of the time when Lin Lan’s Pock Face killed Beauty. I guess I am just used to the protagonist of the story living for the entire story, so when an author kills them off at the beginning, it is unnerving. Did anyone else think though the dialogue between the character’s was a little choppy and sometimes random? Example: boy comes home, sees mother, and says, “Mother, how dreadful you look! Yes, give me an apple?” What is going on?
I totally agree with Charizard. When I first read Lin Lan, I was like what is going on? How can she die? She’s supposed to live happily ever after! At least in this story, the villain didn’t try to kill the hero repeatly, because that is just really weird.
To me, whenever there a choppy sentence, I read slower. So I feel like it’s the author’s way to signal that this is an important part of the story?