This text is an essay about the hidden meanings of the Hansel and Gretel story. It is a story of hope and victory. One message is that poverty makes people selfish.
According to Bettelheim, the story is really about the things that go on in children’s minds.
For children, the Mother is the source of all food. When they grow up, children must learn to live separately from their mother. This is why they are left in the forest. But they return home because they are not yet old enough to live apart from their mother.
The children are left in the forest a second time. They try to solve their problems by concentrating only on food. They do not act like human beings but like hungry animals. This is why they eat the gingerbread house instead of using it for shelter.
The gingerbread house is also a symbol for the mother because the mother gives food to children. A mother’s body (milk) is the source of food. A child wishes to have a child once the mother has finished milk-breasting it. The sight of gingerbread house fills the two children with joy of shelter, but the witch’s evil plan makes them substitute their id with ego. The gingerbread house also gives children idea about two aspects of the home: parental home and witch’s home, and the latter home is the hardened form of a mother that makes children mature intelligently.
Another message is that greed leads to destruction. The witch wants to eat the children who acted like greedy animals. It is only when they think and act like human beings that they manage to escape from the witch. In this way, the witch is also a symbol for the mother. Then the witch’s behaviour forces the children to start growing up and acting like adults. Thus, the witch is the destructive aspect of orality. To be greedy is to invite trouble. The travails of the two children give them a wonderful lesson of not being greedy.
The white duck that helps Hansel and Gretel get home is a symbol of a new beginning. The duck can only carry one child at a time and this shows that children must learn to live without their brothers and sisters.
Birds play an important role in the story. A snow white bird directs them to the gingerbread house. A white Duck help them cross the water. Children who read the story will believe that birds were controlling what happened to Hansel and Gretel.
When Hansel and Gretel return home, they have grown up. They can now help their father. The help they give is symbolized by the jewels. The family is not rich because they have money but because Hansel and Gretel have learnt to think and act like adults.
Saturday, September 5, 2015
Hansel and Gretel: Bruno Bettelheim
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