The fairy tale “The Juniper Tree”, written by Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm, is a story about a boy being murdered by his stepmother and how the crime is resolved. Like with most fairy tales, there lies a meaning within “The Juniper Tree”; that meaning being that everyone gets what they deserve. To support the meaning of the fairy tale, the Grimm brothers implemented repetition throughout the story in its words and phrases. During the story, the actual Juniper Tree that is mentioned, is shown to repeatedly have a calming effect onto whomever was sad beneath the tree. In the beginning of the fairy tale, the boy’s birth mother is depicted as being sad under the tree until she wished for a child and then “she was happy; [and] she had a feeling something The first case appears when the birth mother of the boy is eating the juniper berries “so greedily”; not only did she grow “sad and sickened” but it caused her to die and the punishment of eating so much greedily could have been the fact that her son would have a horrid stepmother and face a horrible death (Manheim 162). The second case occurs when the boy’s father eats the callous stew and it is stated that “the more he ate, the more he wanted”; which means that he ate the entire stew without sharing, hence his consumption being greed filled (Manheim 164). The father’s punishment as a result of his greedy eating is the death of his wife, the evil stepmother, by the dropping of a millstone onto her head. Yet, the stepmother’s punishment is also a result of her own greed because she murdered the boy in order to “get the whole fortune for her daughter” (Manheim 163). Furthermore, the bird in the story appears greedy in how it approaches singing to others. For example, whenever the people the bird encountered asked it to sing a second time, it would ask for something in return because “[it] don’t sing twice for nothing” (Manheim 165). However, because the greed the bird had was used to serve justice, there was no terrible punishment for it and the bird was reincarnated back into the
The tree “swings through another year of sun and leaping winds, of leaves and bounding fruit.” This sentence evokes images of happiness and serenity; however, it is in stark contrast with “month after month, the whip-crack of the mortgage.” The tone of this phrase is harsh and the onomatopoeia of a “whip crack” stirs up images of oppression. The final lines of the poem show the consequences that the family accepts by preserving the tree—their family heritage. When the speaker judges the tree by its cover she sees monetary value, but when she looks at the content in the book she find that it represents family. Even though times may be tough for the family, they are united by memories of their ancestors.
In the first two lines, an aural image is employed to indicate a never-ending anger in the girl's father. Dawe uses onomatopoeia to create a disturbing and upsetting description of his enraged "buzz-saw whine." An annoying, upsetting sound, it gives the impression of lasting ceaselessly. His anger "rose /murderously in his throat." Because "murderously" begins on a new line, a greater emphasis is placed on it and its evil and destructive connotations. An image of a growling lion stalking its prey is evoked in the reader, as it threateningly snarls from its throat. The girl is terrified as it preys on her persistently "throughout the night." Furthermore, because there is no punctuation, these few lines are without a rest, and when reading out aloud, they cause breathlessness. This suggests that the father's "righteous" fury is ceaseless and suffocating the girl.
The poem can be very touching to those who understand its true meaning. Dana Gioia was able to take this poem that was about a death of a young boy and turn it into something beautiful allowing him to live forever. This story is not only about the mourning of a lost soul, but about the beauty of life itself. Dana also allowed to reader to understand the compassion she had for the speaker. Without verbally saying it she used symbolic images to interpret the hurt and pain the man experienced from the loss of this unborn child. Instead of the common Sicily tradition for planting a tree for the first born child, the speaker does what he feels will honor his son. The sequoia is planted to compensate for the time he has lost and to outlive the child’s family. T
“A person who pulls himself up from a low environment via the boot-strap route has two choices. Having risen above his environment, he can forget it; or, he can rise above it and never forget it and keep compassion in his heart for those has left behind him in the cruel up climb.” (pg 129)
Hurston writes: “She had no more blossomy openings dusting pollen over her man, neither any glistening young fruit where the petals used to be” (194). This is significant because the gloomy image reflects how Janie is beginning to retreat into herself due to Jody’s outrageous behavior. Her love being represented as shriveled up buds and bare branches is symbolic to the fact that she is being forced to disregard her freedom due to her husband. She relinquishes her ability to attend community gatherings, talk with men outside the shop, or wear her hair down. All of these details are included in the symbol of the dying tree and create a clear visual of Janie’s mind for readers. This is is especially important since the story is written in the third person which does not give readers the opportunity to follow Janie’s thought process. The symbol of the tree gives the readers the insight necessary to understand Janie’s mind and emotions as she attempts to cope with unhealthy
In the beginning of this story, one expects for the characters to follow the concepts that they represent. This story displays one man's journey to leave his home and comfort zone in order to fully explore his curiosity. He goes off into a forest and undergoes a life changing experience there. He encounters three different things that set him on the path to the journey of knowledge. This forest was symbolic of an assessment of strength, bravery, and survival. It took determination to survive in the forest and the young person entering into it would not emerge the same. Conversely, this story is more representative than realistic and the peril is of the character. This story is more of a vision or conscious daydream th...
A devoted mother, Anne Bradstreet is concerned with her children as she watches them grow up. “Or lest by Lime-twigs they be foil'd, or by some greedy hawks be spoil'd” Anne Bradstreet uses to describe her fear for her children. Not wanting to see her children suffer, Anne Bradstreet turns to God to help her children. Bradstreet imagines her bird’s being stuck on a branch and a hawk eating them, a grim image of all of her sacrifice being lost in a single moment. “No cost nor labour did I spare” describes how much Anne loves her children.
As mentioned, the first nuance of the juniper tree is death. Antonio, the main character, witnesses a murder of his friend, Narciso, who asks Antonio for blessing, in which afterwards he gives the words of his dying breath “’It is good
Juniper shows signs of being mainly a resilient girl but also a few signs of being uncontrolled. She follows deadlines and turns in all her homework. She also has no problem working independently or in groups and is able to respect others and their possessions. She is said to be a peer leader in her report card and does very well in school. She usually has a good attitude and behavior at home but has the occasional bad moments, which I think are totally normal for a girl her age. The signs of her being uncontrolled include comments from the 7th grade report card which state “She has frequent problems speaking out of turn in class, interrupting other students' work, and sticking to classroom and school rules” (Pearson, 2014). I think this may
It is very common in many of the fairy tales for there to be usually one controlling, ‘evil’ parent, most commonly the stepmother, and one submissive parent, usually the father. This archetype is also seen in the fairy tales of Cinderella, Snow White, and Brother and Sister. The wicked character of the witch follows the stereotype that all witches are old, ugly, bitter, and evil. It is surprising to see that the fairy tale of Hansel and Gretel is one of the few where the main protagonists are clever and intelligent. The save themselves instead of relying on other people to save them. Hansel is very intelligent when he gathers glowing rocks and pieces of bread to lead their way back home when they are left to die in the forest. He shows his cleverness when he tricks the witch into believing that he has gained no weight by letting her touch a little bone instead of his finger. Gretel is also particularly clever when she pretends ignorance and tricks the witch into getting inside the oven allowing Gretel to push her in. The main themes of the fairy tale address survival and resilience in a world of poverty and deprivation. The main protagonist overcome the obstacles when they outsmart the witch, who represents gluttony, and are rewarded with pearls and jewels. Another main theme of the story is the sin of gluttony represented by the witch and the house made from bread and cakes. The witch’s gluttony is her downfall when she is tricked by both children. An important part of the fairy tale is the imagery present. As the children are lost in the forest they describe it “dark [as] night”. The forest is a recurrent image in the Grimm fairy tales, especially in the fairy tales of Little Red-Cap, and Snow White. The forest in the fairy tale is often described as frightening and where the supernatural happens. The forest also
The forest additionally symbolizes the relationship in which native serves as a place of empowerment for individuals. This also adds to those the themes. The forest is a symbol of Prynne and Dimmesdale’s empowerment in the truth, hope and love. Upon their meeting in the forest, both feel positively changed as qu...
One of the people’s traits affected by human nature in many stories is greed. As shown throughout, greed is an evil sin. This is especially obvious in the Pardoner’s Tale, where the Pardoner, a church-appointed official who collects gold for absolving people their sins, tells about the evils of money. In the story, three friends, who wanted to make the world better by killing death, find gold, and unwilling to share, start planning to kill each other. Two friends sent the third to bring them food and wanted to kill him after he came back. The victim, however, also wanted the money, and poisoned their drinks. As a result, all three friends die. “Thus were these two homicides finished,/ and the false poisoner too.” (Chaucer 365). Even though Chaucer’s conclusions are not expressed and actually are very different from what the Pardoner says, Chaucer manages to convey h...
The stepmother poisons an apple, Snow White eats it and then dies. After this, Gaiman’s version strays significantly from the fairy tale happy ending. As did the Queen’s and Snow White’s character change, so did the Prince’s. In Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, the prince kisses the princess and breaks the curse. In the Grimm brothers version, which is more like Gaiman’s, the piece of poisoned apple is dislodged from her throat and she comes back to life. In “Snow, Glass, Apples”, the prince’s true motives are uncovered. “He bade me remove my shift, and made me stand in front of the opened window, far from the fire, until my skin was chilled stone-cold. Then he asked me to lie upon my back, with my hands folded across my breasts, my eyes wide open – but staring only at the beams above. He told me not to move, and to breathe as little as possible. He implored me to say nothing”(Gaiman 342). The prince’s requests are strange and uncommon but the Queen complys. The prince is trying to make the Queen seem dead. This reveals the prince to be a necrophiliac, which is why he shows great interest when he first discovers Snow White’s body. He is willing to give the dwarfs anything in turn for Snow White’s corpse. They give it to him and while he is having his way with it, the piece of apple that is lodged in her throat becomes loosened and she comes back to life. Snow White stayed cold and always looked as if death was upon her, so the prince’s desire for her was not diminished when she awakened. The prince is not the valiant savior he is thought to be, but a lust driven necrophiliac in search of
“They had passed autumn afternoons when they were nine years old in the hollowed-out base of a cedar tree, where they sprawled on the ground looking out at the rain as it pummeled the sword ferns and ivy. At school they were stran...
...e roots of the old tree, the star’s light was intercepted by green shoots and small, crinkled leaves— last season’s seeds. Tiny children of the mother tree, they were doomed to live out their lives under her suffocating blanket of branches. Now as they gazed upward, innumerable points of light gazed back. A light wind rustled the miniature stalks of the saplings, blowing the new debris around in short-lived eddies that danced softly through the night.