Decoding the Grimm Brothers

Children have a reputation for being innocent and naive. This is mainly because their experiences with the world are few and sheltered. As the children grow up they are exposed to more and more of the unfiltered world. Some parents do everything they can to keep their children from seeing that world. That is because as they see more of the world they become less innocent. Normally adults are the only ones who have truly lost their innocence. Unfortunately, there are exceptions, as there are to every rule, and they are not good. Children who have lost their innocence have had horrible things happen. Elie Wiesel writes in the novella Night how he lost his innocence. Elie has suffered a loss of innocence because he is desensitized, he has lost

Many young and innocent kids will grow up and see the world from a different perspective. One would naturally become worried for all future generations who will one day grow, and loose their innocence. I find it amazing how from such a young age children have to become mature, they loose out on your childhood and their ability to be children because they have to mature way too fast for their age. Gone are the days

In the article, “In a war, children without a childhood,” by Los Angeles Times, the central idea was that children lose their innocence because they lost their childhood. For example, many children lost their childhood because they’ve watched their parents become victims of murder. According to the article, “Children have seen their parents killed and watched as boys and girls just like them were hurt.” Well, when children see their parents get killed, they tend to grow up with brutal, aggressive tendencies, which causes them to lose their innocence. In addition to being orphaned, children will grow up making mature, adult decisions, also causing them to lose their youth. In conclusion, when children lose their childhood, they lose their

"All things truly wicked start from an innocence,” states Ernest Hemingway on his view of innocence. Innocence, what every youth possesses, is more accurately described as a state of unknowing but not ignorance- which connotation suggests a blissfully positive view of the world. Most youth are protected from the harsh realities of the adult world. Therefore they are able to maintain their state of innocence. While innocence normally wanes over time, sometimes innocence can be abruptly taken away. Some of the characters in Truman Capotes In Cold Blood lost their innocence due to the traumatic events they experienced in childhood and adulthood while some had none to begin with.

Fairy tales have been passed down from generation to generation, each person in one way or another altering the tale to reflect a piece of their life in the work . The Brothers Grimm wrote hundreds of fairy tales in their life time and in these works they used their childhood experiences as reference. Because of the hardships they faced growing up their tales take on a more gruesome approach to fairy tales. Because their mother was their only caregiver growing up, Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm reflect their fondness towards her through the strong willed, independent female characters in their fairy tales. Female heroines are rarely seen in modern day fairy tales, but as a result of their childhood the Brothers Grimm utilized them frequently

The lost of innocence can totally change the way people view the world. A person who illustrates this can be found in J.D. Salinger’s novel, the Catcher in the Rye. The story happened during the 1950s, in a small town in Pennsylvania called Agerstown. A teenage boy named Holden, who witnesses the death of his older brother Allie when he was only 13 years old. Then consequently, he blames himself all his life for the death of Allie. As time went by he starts to search for a sense of innocence that was lost in the beginning of the novel. Throughout the course of the novel, the author conveys that Holden is continually stuck in between childhood and adulthood. The author uses Holden’s struggle to convey that in reality often times people who

Grimm’s tale conveys a story of a girl whose morals, soul, and faith in God and her mother’s words are what defines her beauty. They reinstate this point by describing even the step-sisters as works of beauty. By

Innocence is usually associated with youth and ignorance. The loss of one's innocence is associated with the evils of the world. However, the term "innocence" can be interpreted in a variety of ways. Similarly, the loss of one's innocence can be interpreted in more than one way, and, depending on the interpretation, it may happen numerous times. The loss of innocence is culture specific and involves something that society holds sacrosanct. It is also bounded by different religious beliefs. Still, no matter which culture or religion is at hand, there is always more than one way to lose one's innocence, and every member of that particular culture or religion experiences a loss of innocence at least once in their lives. In addition,

The Brothers Grimm used a fearful and hopeful tone, syntax and story details in Aschenputtel to convey the moral of the tale, “Virtue will be rewarded, Iniquity will be punished” (Perrault, pg. 162), while still upholding the fairytale conventions.

The tradition of telling fairy tales to children effects not only the listener but also the reader. Maria Tatar, in her book Off with Their Heads!, analyzes how fairy tales instill and reaffirm cultural values and expectations in their audience . Tatar proposes that fairy tales fall into three different tale-types: cautionary tales, exemplary stories, and reward- and- punishment tales. These three types portray different character traits as desirable and undesirable. Due to the tale’s varying literary methods it can change the effectiveness of the tale’s pedagogical value. In Tatar’s opinion, all of these tales are similar in the way they attempt to use punishment, reward, and fear to encourage or discourage certain behaviors. In the cautionary fairy tale “The Virgin Mary’s Child”, the use of punishment and fear to discourage certain behaviors is enhanced by the Christian motifs and values employed by the tale. These literary devices encourage the audience to reflect on and internalize the lessons that are presented in the fairy tale.

The loss of a child’s innocence is seen in the short story “The Monkey Garden” by Sandra Cisneros. A garden by a little girl’s house that once was her playground is now a place she dreads because her sister, Sally, lost her innocence there. The author creates this loss by using symbolism and simile. The sisters live by a beautiful garden in which they make their playground. One day, the sisters are enjoying their time in the garden, when the boys they play with take Sally’s keys. Sally asks for them back, but the boys say they will only give back the keys if Sally kisses each and every one of them. Although Sally agrees, the little sister does not. She keeps thinking to herself, “It was just a kiss that’s all… only how come

The fairy tales that we grew up with are not the originals. Disney and the brothers Grimm had two very different versions. While many of us grew up watching cute birds and mice following the woe begotten princess, the original stories were forgotten by most. These stories were far darker, ending in cruel justice for a stepsister or worse. The difference between aspects of the two tales discussed, in some instances, is the difference between night and day. Grimm fairy tales contain more violence, harsher villains, and swifter justice.

The New Yorker featured an article depicting a different, yet similar story from the brothers that also touched upon a unique aspect of human nature. The author of the article described the tone of the story as such, “It feels like a glimpse of the dreadful side of the nature of things.” That is true of very many of the Grimm’s’ tales, even those with happy endings.” (Acocella). This outlook towards the brother’s work gives a darker point of view towards the fairy tales that are enjoyed as children, however this leads to a different interpretation to many stories as an adult.

In comparing the versions of Little Red Riding Hood and Snow White, a common element of moral disobedience shines through, causing the death of many female characters. In the versions of Little Red Riding Hood, Charles Perrault’s “Little Red Riding Hood” and Brother Grimm “Little Red Cap”, the young girl strays from the path to her grandmother’s house and gets eaten by the wolf at the end of the story. While for Brothers Grimm the little girl directly disobeys her mother, Perrault’s reasoning is more opened ended as the mother never gives Little Red Riding Hood specific directions, although she does not excuse her for immoral actions. Through all six versions in Maria Tatar’s Classic Fairy Tales, those two stories are the only ones that end with Little Red Riding Hood getting eaten.

Children are led to believe that Hansel and Gretel, in the fairy tale “Hansel and Gretel” by the Grimm brothers, are the protagonists or “the good guys” of the story. Bettelheim believes that in fairy tales all characters are either good or bad and that they are not ambiguous. To be ambiguous is to have a double meaning or to be unclear about decisions that are made. After examining Hansel and Gretel’s actions more thoroughly it is discovered that there is ambiguity in the choices they make, therefore rejecting Bettelheim’s previous claim on how fairy tale characters are never ambiguous. Initially, I agreed with Bettelheim’s statement on non ambiguous fairy tale characters because in the beginning they were merely victims of the antagonist’s decisions, but then I started noticing Hansel and Gretel’s counteractions and how it did not comply under the category of “good” or benign. Although Hansel and Gretel may appear to be “good” in the eyes of the children, Hansel and Gretel’s ambiguous actions have led me to believe otherwise.