Teaching ToolEssay title: Teaching ToolTeaching ToolJacob and Wilhelm Grimm were recognized for their publication of folk stories and fairy tales during the 19th century. Young children continue to obtain pleasure from reading such fairy tales as Snow White, Rumpelstiltskin, Cinderella, and Hansel and Gretel in the 21st century. Over time others have imitated the Grimm brothers by rewriting their fairy tales and stressing what the author thinks are the important moral factors of the fairy tale. Anne Sexton rewrote some of the Grimm fairy tales into satirical poem modifying it to illustrate what she thought was important. In doing this she was able to stress what she saw as important. In the fairy tale Snow White, Anne Sexton and the Grimm Brothers stress the idea of jealousy of punishment one receives differently. Sexton stresses the importance of Snow White’s death through detailed explanation while the Grimm Brothers explain the process of killing Snow White in order to show consequences.
Although Anne Sexton and the Grimm Brothers never mention the word envy in either of there works, it is clear that envy plays a significant role. The story began when Snow White’s step-mother was told she was not as fair as her daughter. Driven by jealousy Snow White’s step-mother immediately sent Snow White to be killed in the woods. However, the hunter did not have the heart to murder beautiful Snow White so he let her go in the woods, with the promise she would never return. In the woods, she found a small cottage and lived with seven dwarfs. Snow White’s step-mother then asked the mirror again, “who is the fairest of them all?” The mirror answered Snow White is the fairest of them all. After numerous times of trying to kill Snow White, the evil queen was finally successful after feeding Snow White a poisonous apple. The dwarfs, unable to revive her, put Snow-White in a clear glass casket and set her on top of a hill for everyone to see. When the prince first laid eyes on Snow-White, he immediately fell in love with her. He took her casket back to his castle, however, she was accidentally dropped and the piece of poisonous apple was dislodged from her mouth. She awoke and lived happily ever after with her prince. The evil queen, however, was tortured to death at the end of the tale.
The punishment for the witch’s jealousy is a good way of illustrating the repercussions she faced. In doing so the reader is taught that envy is not an honorable trait. Snow White’s step-mother believes that “she would hear of no beauty surpassing her own.”(Sexton) Her self perception would eventually lead to her demise:
The wicked queen was invited to the wedding feastand when she arrived there werered-hot iron shoes,in the manner of red-hot roller skates,clamped upon her feet.First your toes will smokeand then your heels will turn blackand you will fry upward like a frog,she was told.And so she danced until she was dead,a subterranean figure. (Sexton)Her explicit, detailed language tells the reader exactly what happened to the queen. Unlike Sexton, the Grimm brothers bring up Snow White’s step-mother’s death very briefly, saying, “Then they put a pair of iron shoes into burning coals. They were brought forth with tongs and placed before her. She was forced to step into the red-hot shoes and dance until she fell down dead.”(Grimm) The mention of the queen’s death is brief and straightforward. The story really does not spend much time describing the punishment for being so envious of Snow White. Sexton thought it was very important for us as the audience to understand the torture and pain the witch suffered due to her self notion that she was the prettiest of them all.
Coming from a family of three other brothers, there have been periods of my life when I was envious. I remember especially when I was younger and my brother was a better athlete than I was. Every sport he played he was just naturally good at. What really made me upset was that he always won when we played together. So like Snow White’s step-mother jealousy, I took it out on my brother even though he was not at fault. My jealousy had a negative effect on my relationship with my brother. Looking back upon it I feel the consequences of my jealousy really put a strain on our relationship. I feel I have lost time with my brother that I can never have again just because of my ego. Like Sexton I
I was very fortunate to have both my brothers on my team, and I will always remember the day I made him the star of my hometown team. They were always the envy of the whole team. Their performances in school for me were phenomenal. They were hard to get along with. We always kept a tight tight leash with them and it made their lives quite difficult in school. To have our siblings and cousins around to have our school football team, I really felt that he was the most exciting football player, and there were so many other kids to come out of high school with as well. Our parents and my brother, like every other kid in the country, have always been very supportive of the family and their work ethic. They had no problems at all getting through high school. I don’t think it’s something that can be blamed on the parents as well. But if I was to judge on my own actions, I would say the first time I put my hands in the sand for any reason, would be my self-esteem issue. I’ve always had problems getting a job. I didn’t want to come home from high school with the money or the opportunity to go to work for a living like my family did. So yeah, in a very strange moment my friends and family got together and started trying to bring me around the neighborhood. When I arrived in Portland, it was almost a two hour drive. Now it took about three hours on a ferry. Even in that time of day they stayed at our house and tried to keep one eye on everything I was doing every day. I felt like I wasn’t doing any good. I would say it was more of a natural reaction from just how important it was to play the game. I’m still grateful to my family and my coaches for that. It was a little stressful for them, but I’m thankful for everything. I want to give my best to them and thank you.” At the end of the third round, as the Ducks had finished winning the first round, Snow White started talking about his brother. And with the Ducks already playing a game this season, it was easy for them to get to the top spot. But Snow White’s first name was mentioned by team officials as Snow White to his wife Sophie. In her mind, her brother Snow White was a great player as well; he had great basketball IQ, was fast and had a great personality. But that may never change. When he spoke openly with Skyler before the Ducks took the fourth pick, he had one thing in mind: “I love my family. I’m very thankful for