An Interpretation of the fable Hansel and Gretel
Fables seem so simple as a child, but as you become more complex so do these stories.
Before We Get Started
If you are unfamiliar with the fable Hansel and Gretel you can read the story at this url http://www.pitt.edu/~dash/grimm015.html
Also I'm trying something new with sourcing pictures, so pictures can be clicked on and it takes you to the source url, so don't click the pictures unless you want to end up at the pictures source. :) ok enjoy the read.
Let's Get Started
I'm going to approach this fable a bit differently then previously, the sequence will not follow the timeline, but more the characters.
Nature / Reality was a Villain
Food was scarce, the weather was cold, the maternal mother was dead. The whole of the known world was suffering. The forest was a harsh maze, full of beasts and yes even pure evil. The type of evil that doesn't just kill people, but it's very purpose is to kill children.
The Wife and The Witch
The Wife was the replacement of the mother only in image, because she did not take on a maternal connection to the children. Lacking this connection the wife turned from the embodiment of the Mother and became the embodiment of the Witch.
Now in the story the Wife and the Witch are physically separate characters, but as you consider the story you find they are the same abstract character. The Witch is the future of the Wife, due to the Wife's choices; The Wife chooses to sacrifice the children to sustain herself, "Early tomorrow morning we will take the two children out into the thickest part of the woods, make a fire for them, and give each of them a little piece of bread, then leave them by themselves and go off to our work. They will not find their way back home, and we will be rid of them." (pitt) The Witch makes the same decision, the Witch just doesn't sugar code it, because she doesn't need to convince Man, but their actions have the same consequence.
If that isn't enough to convince you of the Wife and the Witch; When the children return home after killing the Witch in the forest the Wife too is dead.
The Wife and the Witch are the evil within us, that would sacrifice others for our own pleasure. That evil is so powerful we are capable of destroying even the purest thing, our child if we allow that evil to manifest itself. In this case it was fear, but greed, pleasure, there are many roads that lead to this bitter end.
You might ask, how does someone get to this point, the Wife is at? The man or father is stricken with worry, the wife's solution is to abandon the children to preserve the limited food supply for herself. Now this is important, the woman had no maternal connection to the children. That is to say her duty was no longer to protect the children from predators, but to see the children as predator. They were like strangers or leeches in her eyes. This is not hypothetical, we have seen this in real life, go study WWII, or better yet look at what protest groups around the world say about those they protest. This is dangerous stuff, and there's no excuse, because we know what comes next. People Die and it's wrong
The Despair of Man
How does wickedness manifest itself? Through the weakness of Man. That's what we are going to see here.
"What is to become of us? How can we feed our children when we have nothing for ourselves?" (pitt), says the Man. This is a man defeated by the world, defeat of this kind saps strength and cripples reason. The man brings himself to initially argue with the Woman's command to sacrifice the children, "I will not do that. How could I bring myself to abandon my own children alone in the woods? Wild animals would soon come and tear them to pieces" (pitt).
The Woman then argues with the point that if the children are not sacrificed they will all die. This is the classic fear mongering argument, "if you disagree with me everyone will die." Well the answer to that is NO everyone will not die, you don't know that. Maybe the wheat will grow more abundantly or the winter will end. Honestly if you are to the point where you are saying should it be innocent me that lives or innocent "that other person" that lives. Hey you're not that innocent anymore.
The world is tough, it's harsh and dangerous. When the Archetypal Man decides to throw in the towel it gets a hell of a lot tougher for a hell of a lot of people. That's what we are seeing here.
Hansel and Gretel The Archetypes
Throughout this story we see examples of Hansel's deep devotion to protect his sister Gretel. Though it takes the femininity of Gretel throughout the tale to motivate Hansel. Now he wasn't motivated by her asking, Hansel sensed her need for a hero and because of that became that hero Gretel needed. Also Gretel not Hansel killed the witch and this wasn't done through strength, but through cunning, something the Woman is far superior in. And why wouldn't she be? She has to be, the Woman protects her child by avoiding danger and planning ahead. Then Gretel on the run home has the presents of mind to ride the swan one at a time she feels for the swan, Hansel could care less about the swan his empathy is for his sister, but without this both may have drown. This speaks to the balance necessary between Man and Woman to ensure success and longevity. While at the same time shining a light on the wickedness that manifests itself when Man and Woman do not follow the example of the Archetypes (Hansel & Gretel vs Father & Wife). This is extremely useful to understand and the better you understand it the better your life will be.
Summary
Sacrifice is something you do to yourself not to others
We've learned a lot on this short fable and I would love to hear your feedback and thoughts, that's what makes this productive.
One final piece to revisit here, when it comes to consumption or whatever, and you're saying, "People need to do less of this or use less of that," Hey lead by example man. You don't inspire by making sacrifices in someone else's life in fact you make enemies, great way to start a war actually, you inspire by making sacrifices of your stuff, of your enjoyment.
Just Click the Pic Below to Read: Fables & Meaning Part 1: Three Wishes
References:
http://www.pitt.edu/~dash/grimm015.html - (pitt)