Hansel and Gretel

Summary:A woodcutter and his wife can't afford to feed their kids, so the wife suggests leaving them out in the forest to starve. Hansel and Gretel overhear this, and Hansel sneaks out and gathers rocks so they can leave a trail and find their way back home. After being left in the forest, they do find their way back home. Unfortunately, the parents can't feed their kids still, so they lure them into the forest a second time. Hansel couldn't get rocks this time, so he leaves breadcrumbs as a trail; however, the birds eat the breadcrumbs and Hansel and Gretel are stuck in the forest, starving. They eventually find a witch's house made out of bread, cake, and sugar. They begin to eat pieces of the house, when the witch confronts them and convinces them to stay with her. Unfortunately, she locks up Hansel to fatten him up and eat him, while Gretel does chores for her. The witch then decides to eat them both, and tries to push Gretel into the oven. Gretel tricks the witch into checking the temperature herself, and pushes her inside. Hansel and Gretel collect a bunch of the witch's treasure and find their way back home. Their mother had died, but the father was overjoyed to find his kids and the treasures they had brought home.Key points:-in earlier versions, both the mother and father conspired to ditch the kids-witch is virtually blind (common in fairytales)-irony > the witch eats the children but entices them with food/her house is made out of food-kids can't trust any adults-nature/magic isn't on their side until they are free-their wit gets them through everything-horrific narrative > parents can't sacrifice themselves/ killing the future

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