Navigation
Home
Members
Papers
Forums
Search
Signup
Links
Contact Us
About
Top 10
Popular Essays
Rated Essays
Newest Essays
Report
Print
Add to Favorites
Report
Messages
Rate
Similar Reports
Help
Never take candy from stranger (Click to select text)
Never Take Candy From Strangers During the times the story was written, there was much child abuse in society. The child's welfare was often put aside because the family was more important. The unknown author of the Fairy Tale "Hansel and Gretel" used many rhetorical devices such as symbolism and diction to intensify the purpose of the story, to alert society of the abuse that existed against children. The recurring theme of the wicked stepmother has appeared throughout many of the fairy tales. In the tale of "Hansel and Gretel", the unknown author goes into great detail describing the full extent of the stepmother's bad nature. The author carefully selects his diction in order to convey the negativity of the stepmother's character. He or she uses such words as "cruel" or "wicked" wherever the stepmother is being described by the author, which intensifies the negativity the reader perceives. This device of careful word selection is immediately followed up by "She kept Hansel and Gretel under lock and key". The rhetorical technique of description and example furthers our understanding of the depths of the stepmother's cruelty in the tale. The author paints a picture of both Hansel and Gretel imprisoned in a room in the vivid imagery. The stepmother "often ill-treated the children" and "she kept on trying to persuade her husband to abandon his children " This is a key indicator of the abuse that Hansel and Gretel suffered under their cruel stepmother. During the times the author lived in, child abuse was common in society. The anonymous author uses the character of the wicked stepmother to convey the abuse a child would suffer during those times. The wife of the woodcutter "was forever nagging" him to "abandon" the "two brats". This is only one of the levels of child abuse children had to suffer. Parents often abused their children. Just like today, children had to be aware of predators that searched for children to prey on back in the times of the author. The unknown author has his characters, Hansel and Gretel, encounter an old witch in a candy cottage. "Unluckily for Hansel and Gretel, however, the sugar candy cottage belonged to an old witch, her trap for catching unwary victims. At this point of the story, the character of the witch is introduced. The witch symbolizes those predators, which existed then and exists now. Child abuse also occurs on another level where adults would take advantage of unsuspecting children. In this fairy tale, the witch locks Hansel in a cage and exclaims, "I shall fatten you up and eat you!" In the author's society, children were tortured and treated unfairly. Child labor was another form of abuse and was a common aspect of the times the author lived in. The witch tell Gretel, "You can do the housework," and "then I'll make a meal of you too!" The witch forces Gretel to clean the house, a common practice among children. They had to help out the family mostly doing the work of adults. The character of the witch represents the adult predators that existed in the past that still exists today. One may argue that the story had nothing to do with child abuse. The stepmother had a logical reason for wanting to abandon the children. She stated, "There is not enough food in the house for us all." It is apparent that they family can no longer sustain itself and so she wanted to abandon the children. The stepmother also had some concern for the welfare of the children. She felt that "maybe someone will find them and give them a home". But evidence shows that the stepmother did abuse the children. She "ill-treated the children" and she tried to abandon her stepchildren. No matter how bad the situation was for the family the thought of leaving the children in the woods should have never crossed her mind. As a result, any little redeeming qualities she may possess are overpowered by her cruelty. That is why the story is about abuse. The unknown author utilizes many rhetorical devices of symbolism and diction throughout the fairy tale. The author provides valid points and brings the reader a glimpse into the author's world in which he or she lives in. Abuse has existed in the past and still continues on to this day. The author wanted to make society aware of abuse. The fairy tale provides several aspects or levels on which to view abuse, which can be still applied to society today.
Recent Board Topics
Please drop by and sign up.
[
Submit Essay
] - [
Privacy
] - [
Disclaimer
] - [
Email Us
]
Copyright 2003 EssayFarm.com