With the upcoming release of Gretel and Hansel, I thought it seemed an appropriate time to
discuss the fairy tale it's based on from the the brothers Grimm, Hansel and Gretel.
It might seem odd that I'd discuss something that's often understood to be aimed at kids,
but the reality is that many of the tales from brothers Grimm have mature themes that
are actually extremely interesting when you delve into them.
So if you're wondering what we can take away from Hansel and Gretel about responsibility,
maturity and greed, then you will find this video of interest as I discuss some of the
psychology and philosophy of the story.
As far as the film, Gretel and Hansel goes, it's yet to be released and I don't know what
to expect from it, other than it's clearly not aimed for a young audience and will be
delving into some of the dark themes of the original tale.
And for anyone interested, seeing as it's been a source of confusion and a popular meme,
the film switched the names of the characters around because Gretel is going to be the main
focus of the story.
If you don't know the story of Hansel and Gretel I would recommend reading it, as it
can be quite fascinating.
To give a quick summary, a woodcutter and his wife are struggling in poverty and so
the wife, stepmother to two children, suggests they abandon the children in a forest to fend
for themselves.
Here, the children come across a home made of food, where they begin to eat as they starve.
Inside a witch sees them and feeds them incessantly, with the intent to fatten up Hansel so that
she can eat him.
Gretel catches on to her ploy and tricks her, eventually leading to the witches death in
an oven she intended to cook Hansel in.
The chidlren find great wealth in the witches home, which they eventually take home to their
father to save the family, with their stepmother having passed away.
For some, myself included so will go with this presumption in my later points, the stepmother
and witch are one in the same.
This isn't actually clear in the story, but given the witch is killed and the evil stepmother
mysteriously dies, it would make sense.
So, what can we take away from Hansel and Gretel?
The Importance Of Food
It's undeniable that food plays an important role in the story of Hansel and Gretel and
it's symbolic meaning is rather critical to the events that unfold.
It's the reason why Hansel and Gretel are initially abandoned by their parents and the
reason for greed throughout the course of the story.
However, equally so food, often specifically bread, represents the material sustenance
needed to survive in life, which can bring both life, but also death, if we let it depending
on the motivations of the individual.
When scarce, it can cause us to do acts of evil, which is thematically constant in Hansel
and Gretel, as parents abandon children when they lack bread, the children act in accordance
with greed on seeing the house, rather than treading carefully and the witch is the embodiment
of evil, or a monster, that comes when you allow greed to consume you.
Fundamentally, it serves as a warning that when lacking, people are capable of doing
things horrendous things, seeing them devolve as humans, on the path to becoming a monster.
This is what happened with the children's father, the children themselves and of course
the wicked witch.
Now, beyond this it's hard to ignore the religious allegories of Hansel and Gretel.
In the Christian faith, bread is eaten as the body of Christ, so in the story bread
also represents God, with the characters acting in sin as they lack God in their lives.
Feeling Abandoned
The story of Hansel and Gretel has a great theme of maturity for the children, and this
stems from being abandoned by their parents.
Now, it's worth mentioning that the stepmother actually tried to abandon the children twice
in the story, failing on the first attempt as Hansel was able to collect some white stones,
or pebbles, to trace a route back home.
White is often a colour that's associated with innocence and purity in mythology or
any works, but where it's particularly interesting is white stones can be symbolic of a child's
unwillingness to change in psychology.
So not only are the children represented as pure and innocent at the start, but when the
children return home with the use of white stones, this can equally be construed as their
unwillingness to move away from childhood.
This is fairly common in life, many fear abandonment from their loved ones and this is particularly
common amongst children, who can have nightmares where they lose their parents.
However, what's equally important here is that as part of the growth, an individual
must be willing to depart the nest so to speak, to experience the world and confront that
which they fear in order to mature, just as seen with Hansel and Gretel.
In the case of the story, this is shown as a spiritual journey for the children, as they
leave the safety of their home with their father, who at this point has been seduced
by the devil, or the evil stepmother, and they encounter and confront the devil in the
forest in the form of the witch.
The Spirit Of Birds
Birds are regularly seen in the story of Hansel and Gretel, representing many things including
direction and freedom.
In the first instance, they are the reason Hansel and Gretel can't return home after
abandonment, as Hansel uses breadcrumbs to try and lay a path home, only to find birds
have eaten the crumbs.
While with the witch, Hansel uses the bone of a bird to survive from being eaten and
eventually it's a bird that helps the children return home to their father.
This can be viewed in a number of ways, such as birds represent the need of support of
others in life to help us in our journey.
However, I think the most important representation is that the birds identify as the spirit in
life, whether it be the spirit of God, or the human spirit.
It's this spirit that first prevented Hansel and Gretel returning home while still immature,
while it acted as a guide to help them return home once they had completed their journey.
This can also be seen as the spirit of God, as it protected them when they confronted
the devil, in the form of the witch.
Forgiveness
On their way home, Hansel and Gretel are faced with a body of water that they must cross
before they complete their journey.
They've confronted the devil in the form of the witch, and the water represents what they
must do to complete their journey.
Now, the water can be identified in a couple of ways.
In Greek mythology, Hades is known to have five rivers, one of which is the Styx which
represents hate.
In this case, as the children cross the water, it can be understood as a way of overcoming
their hate, or anger, for their father who agreed to abandom them, thus representing
forgiveness, something we all have to do in our lives at some point or another.
Another understanding of the water is a form of baptism, as having dealt with missing God,
or bread, in their lives early on, and then almost succumbing to the devil, the witch
in the story, the children complete their journey to embracing God through a form of
baptism, with holy water.
It's only after this act of traversing through water that Hansel and Gretel complete their
journey in the story, returning home to their forgiven father, who is no longer being influenced
by the devil.
Maturity, Forgiveness and Responsibility
So with all of the previous points, we come to understand that the story of Hansel and
Gretel is a spiritual journey the children embark on from being innocent, but naive,
to coming to confront the devil and embracing God.
Religious allegories aside, this can be understood as meaning they have to confront corrupting
forces in the world in order to mature and take on responsibility in their lives, something
we all have to do at times.
However, it's in their maturity and embracement of responsibility that not only do they strengthen
as individuals, but they're actually capable of caring for others, namely their father,
with the wealth they find in the witches hut.
It's also through developing their resolve and maturing that they find the power to forgive
their father who abandoned them, a sign of how they've matured and understood the meaning
and importance of their journey.
So with everything said, Hansel and Gretel, and hopefully Gretel and Hansel, is a deep,
but interesting metaphor for our lives on becoming responsible, mature and forgiving
people who strive to the betterment of mankind.
There's still much more symbolised in Hansel and Gretel.
Can you think of any not discussed?
For example how Hansel and Gretel represent the masculine and feminine sides of ourselves.
Let me know in the comments.
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