Week 14 - Reading Part B

(Illustrated by Otto Ubbelohde)

The second part of the reading for the Grimm Brothers was odd enough. The Christian themes really showed up in this part of the reading, especially when talking about christening and the Devil. The first story was of real interest to me because it reminded me of one of the stories I read about the "Dirty Boy" in the Native American tales. The Grimm Brothers do not have quite a happy ending to this tale though, as the Devil ultimately wins by taking two souls. Like most of their stories, the ending is always a twist and is rather sad or grotesque. The second story in the section was quite odd as well as it featured a half-man half-beast figure that could not fully fit in anywhere because of this sort of curse put upon his family.

The stories from this reading really made me think of the culture that the Grimm Brother's came from. Most of the other stories I have read have some sort of moral or value that they treasure and exemplify within their tales, but with the Grimm Brothers there seems to be a disconnect with what they deem valuable to share. I think there is more of a pessimistic tone here that many people see and that is why these stories were taken and altered. 

Bibliography: Household Tales by Jacob Grimm and Wilhem Grimm translated by Margaret Hunt can be found at MythFolklore Blog.