What about death? We were talking about fairy tales correct? Well when most people think of fairy tales often times the image of mother goose pops into your mind and the warm fuzzy feelings of childhood come rushing back to you. Sorry to break that mold of innocence, but all of our favorite fairy tales are LITTERED WITH IMAGES AND PLOTS RESULTING IN DEATH. But they are there for a good reason. Time for examples.
Snow White
Simple fairy tale of a girl who falls in love with a prince, can sing/communicate with animal friends and at one point rooms with seven dwarfs. All while being the fairest one of them all! Very innocent tale that was the basis for the Disney company's first full length animated film. BUT recall the plot that was written by the Brothers Grimm.
Throughout the whole movie we have the evil Queen trying to do away with Snow White so that she can be the fairest gal in all of the fantasy land. How does she do this? By trying to kill her of course! From hiring a hitman (huntsman) to go kill her and bring her back Snow's heart (or lungs and liver, depending on what version you are watching/reading) to going over there herself dressed like an old woman to feed her a poisoned apple, she is willing to do ANYTHING.
And near the ending scenes she is literally unconscious (bad apple) and laying in a casket where the dwarfs are holding a funeral. Yeah, we are literally watching a funeral of a character whom which we followed throughout the whole story who literally DIES and stays dead until she is kissed by the handsome prince. Yeah, that's super dark once you think it over for a minute.
Little Red Ridinghood
Remember this one folks? About the little girl who just wanted to visit her grandmother and have a nice stroll in the woods? Well image the pure horror that happens to this family. After telling the wolf were she is going (Red, you should have known better not to talk to strangers) he just about runs over to the old womans house and eats her alive. Then crossdresses, tricks Red into thinking that he is the grandmother and then eats her too. Devastating enough as it is, it does have a happy ending in which the woodcutter comes in and saves the day by chopping the wolf's stomach open and literally killing him in order to rescue the still alive grandmother and little red. If this was shown in full graphic detail in theaters today, no one would take their kids to see it. Unless he/she is not disturbed by internal organs, then family fun for all!
The Little Mermaid
Some of you think of the 1989 Disney movie of the same name and think, "Aw that one wasn't too bad, the only graphic part was when Ursula was stabbed by the boat in the end and that didn't even have any blood."
Have you even heard of the story this was based on written by Hans Christian Anderson? Like how they toned down the deal that Ariel makes here?
Disney: Once you're human, you must have one true loves kiss or you turn back into a mermaid.
Original: Once you turn human you must have the prince fall in love with you or you will die. Also you have no voice and every time you walk on these new feet of yours, you will experience the pain of knives being driven into your feet. HAVE FUN!
And guess what? The prince falls for a nun instead and get's married to said nun. In order to avoid dying herself, Ariel's 15 sisters worked with the sea witch. The deal is instead of turning into sea foam/ dying (mermaids have no souls), Ariel now has to murder the prince in cold blood and pour it onto her feet so that she can get her fins back. But of course she doesn't do it, but instead prepares for fate (dying and turning into sea foam). Fate (ends up being the "daughters of air") in it's gracious self decides that she lives for another 300 years doing good deeds for mankind and then she can rise up to the kingdom of God. Well, it's better than nothing. At least you're kind of A Part of His World.
So why is death present in our fairy tales?
Having death or themes of it in a fairytale is not a bad thing. In fact, it teaches kids to face death if anything else. The world is not as magical or sugar coated as it is in the fairy tale world, but facing grief is a part of what it is to be human. ALSO Take notice of the themes going on here. Heroin is put into deadly situation, but in a way raises above the challenge it in the end. Sounds familiar huh? Jesus died on the cross for our sins as mankind, then raised from the grave three days later. He faced the ultimate sacrifice for you and me to live our every day life. The thing is that in a way, these tales of magical creatures and princesses reflect the truth of the Gospel in one way or another.The Gospel may not be a fairy tale, but it can be told through a fairy tale in a unique and sometimes not so obvious way.
Death is in our fairy tales because it needs to be there. It shows that these characters face threats and challenges and sometimes triumph over that challenge in the end. Key word sometimes. Sometimes it is in there to show that life isn't long and should be cherished with every breathe we take. These were my thoughts of the day anyways. What are yours? Do you agree or disagree? Lemme know in the comments down below :)
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