Hansel And Gretel Survival Essay

The True Story of Hansel and Gretel, written by Louise Murphy and Night, by Elie Wiesel both share the same controlling idea of survival. Each of the characters make sacrifices for their loved ones in order to survive the harsh times during the war. In The True Story of Hansel and Gretel, the father, Mechanik, and the Stepmother are forced to have their children change their names and survive in the forest by themselves. Hansel and Gretel find a village and a women names Magda rakes them in and cares for them like her own children. Meanwhile, the Stepmother and the Mechanik join a Partisan group and eventually, they come in contact with the village of Piaski, the one the children found. The forest fascinates Gretel and she goes in by herself. Two men find her and

“The Stepmother knew she had done it. She had shot the one man between the eyes, and the other was dead too, but she hadn’t been quick enough. He had gotten off a round from the shotgun, and it had killed her. She lay staring up into the perishing glitter of the tree limbs and felt her heart pumping its blood out onto the snow” (135). The Stepmother witnesses her daughter being raped and shot one of them men only to be shot by the other. She sacrificed herself and she died to save Gretel. She knew she could not leave her there with the two men so she decided that she would die to save her. This quote demonstrates the theme of sacrifices by the Stepmother. Magda has made many sacrifices by taking in both Hansel and Gretel. She knew if anyone found out that she had taken in two Jewish children, they would all be killed. She did everything in her power to put them first. After the Oberfuhrer found out that Father Piotr had killed the Brown Sister and the guard, he wanted to find Nelka because he knew the two were related but the Major says that Nelka has a good possibility of having Gypsy blood in her. The Oberfuhrer came to Magda’s hut to take her and the