Theme Of Death In Fairy Tales

How is the subject of death used to aid the morals of the tales in selected stories by the brothers Grimm ?

It is very hard to pinpoint the origins of fairy tales, but most fairy tales and folklore are credited to the Brothers Grimm. Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm collaborated in the 19th century to right some of the most well known stories even to this day. They were responsible for the tales of Cinderella, Little Red Riding Hood, the Princess and the Frog and Sleeping beauty, only to name a few. Although, what the Grimm Brothers wrote and the stories most people know are very different. Most people are not familiar with the original stories but the retelling that have altered most of what the Grimm Brothers wrote. The reason for this can be

The story teaches three important lessons about death: death is fair to all, death can not be cheated and death is more powerful than mortals. Through this story the grimm brothers show that death does not differentiate between all man. In the beginning of the story a man chooses death as a godfather to his son, he explains he does this because “[you(death)] are the right person- you make no difference between the rich and the poor”. The lesson to be learned from this is that death doesn’t pick who to take based on who they are in their in the mortal life, people die no matter the possessions they have. This can be taken into an ever deeper lesson that teaches that possessions are only temporary and one should not get too obsessed with what the have because none of this will matter when death comes for them. Basically the lesson is be humble, we are all one in

When death takes his godson, his godson was “unable to resist and was obligated to follow death” and no matter how the godson tried to escape/trick death “[he] fell forever into the hands of Death”. Because the godson could not control his fate with death, it shows that death is more forceful than all man, even his godson. The book ends with the lesson that death can not be resisted and if death decides to take a person, the person will have no option but to go with death and, pass away. Altogether, Godfather death, the theme of death is applied to teach the simple facts of death. This story is beneficial because it can be used as a tool to teach children about death.

Little Snow White Little Snow White is probably the most well known story by the brother’s grimm. The story of a princess being hunted by her stepmother because of her looks uses Death to show how having certain behavioral traits will lead to others death. The story uses death as a result of two of the seven deadly sins mentioned in the bible. The Evil Queen who was “treacherous and wicked at heart” shows both envy and wrath, both of these traits lead her to be overcome with hatred and attempt to lead Snow White to her death three