While Ashiepattle represents the lower-class in the story "Ashiepattle and His Goodly Crew (1848)", the king in this story represents the upper-class people. He has the power to change the rules to his favor. When Ashiepattle brings the ship to the king, he doesn't want him to have his daughter, so he gives him several impossible tasks such as eating "three hundred barrels of meat" (Asbjornsen 470), drink "a cellar full of beer and old wine" (Asbjornsen 471) and "get water from the end of the world in ten minutes for the princess's tea" (Asbjornsen 471) so that he will give up. This represents the upper-class's ability to control others and break their set up rules without being questioned, in order to prevent others from taking what they have. …show more content…
The king's property is also the source of his power. Without his wealth, he would not be powerful enough to challenge Ashiepattle numerous times. Furthermore, when Ashiepattle, with the help of his comrades, completes all the tasks, the king orders him to "dry the wood in the bakehouse" (Asbjornsen 472), which he "had piled up so much wood on the fire that you might almost have melted iron in the room" (Asbjornsen 472) in attempt to kill him. This symbolizes the ultimate power of the upper-class so secretly eliminate others to protect what they don't want others to have. Similar to the king in the story "How Six Made Their Way through the World (1819)", the lack of empathy over others' lives must be the reason why the king in "Ashiepattle and His Goodly Crew (1848)" doesn't hesitate to secretly kill Ashiepattle in the burning bakehouse. His wealth must cause this lack of empathy, for he always has everything taken cared for