Fairy Tales #3: Godfather Death

Disney has pretty much figured out what makes a fairy tale worth turning into a full-length feature film: it needs to have a likable protagonist, a worthy struggle for said protagonist, and, of course, a happily ever after ending. Godfather Death does not have any of those things. Its main character is self-serving; his struggle is to advance himself in society; and (spoiler alert) he dies in the end. It’s not exactly Disney material.

In fact, it’s not exactly a fairy tale either. Godfather Death is actually an anti-fairy tale, meaning it pivots around the punishments of succumbing to vice instead of the rewards of pursuing virtue. As such, they were traditionally told to warn children and even scare them from going astray.

Though Godfather Death doesn’t fit into the Disney paradigm, it works extremely well in a classical classroom. Not only does it give insight into the medieval mindset, but it also poses many powerful questions about justice, truth, and equality that can still be applied today. Plus, it makes for great classroom dramatizations. Let’s take a look at the plot first and then address some of those larger issues.

PLOT SUMMARY
Exposition – Background

At the outset of the story, we learn that a thirteenth child has been born to a very poor family.  

Inciting Incident – The Problem

As if having another mouth to feed wasn’t problem enough for the parents, they are also at a loss over whom to name as their son’s Godfather.

Rising Action – The Build-up

Unlike many a parent today who might make a short list of candidates to be vetted, the father simply decides to choose the first person he meets on the street. It’s not that the father is reckless but that he’s desperate. After all, he probably tapped all of his connections on his first twelve kids.   

As luck would have it, the father meets God Himself! We might expect that to be the end of story with the son being blessed to live happily ever after, but the father foolishly turns God down saying, ”Thou givest to the rich, and leavest the poor to hunger.”

No sooner does God leave, then the Devil offers to be the son’s Godfather. The father turns him down as well saying, “Thou deceivest men and leadest them astray.”

Finally, Death offers himself as the Godfather and even promises riches for the child. The father replies, “Thou art the right one; thou takest from the rich as well as the poor, without distinction; thou shalt be godfather.”  

Death then takes the boy into his special guardianship and mentors him to become a doctor, but not an ordinary doctor with ordinary medicine. Instead, Death shows his Godson a special plant that can be used to heal the sick. The one caveat is that Death will always dictate who gets the medicine. It is up to him who will get to be saved and who must die.

Death says, “If I stand by the head of the sick man, thou mayst say with confidence that thou wilt make him well again, and if thou givest him of this herb he will recover; but if I stand by the patient’s feet, he is mine, and thou must say that all remedies are in vain, and that no physician in the world could save him.”

Climax – The Breaking Point

Their partnership thrives for a long time, and the Godson becomes rich and famous. Then he foolishly decides to “cheat” death by saving someone Death wants to claim. Death warns the Godson not to do it again, but the Godson can’t resist the urge to save a princess on her deathbed, for whoever does so is promised her hand in marriage.  

Falling Action – The Unraveling

Though Death lets the princess live, he declares that he must have the Godson’s life in her place.

Resolution – Not So Happily Ever After

True to his word, Death takes his Godson into a deep cave below the earth. The cave is full of candles, each representing someone’s life. The Godson realizes that his candle is just about to go out and begs Death to light him a new one. Death acts like he is going to but then cruelly stomps his Godson’s candle out.  

A LESSON ON VIRTUES

The Middle Ages was full of poor, big families like the one in Godfather Death. When we realize just how desperate their plight often was, it is hard not to sympathize with the father in the story. He wants to provide for his family but can’t. What’s more, he has grown bitter about his lot in life, and he quite literally turns his back on God. This causes him to have a distorted view of the meaning of justice, truth, and equality. He displays his misunderstanding of each of these virtues in turn when he meets the prospective Godparents.

His interaction with God revolves around justice, or the state of getting what one deserves. No doubt the father felt he deserved better in life. Let’s assume he is a hard-worker as many fathers in the Middle Ages must have been. Yet, he clearly has not gotten what he thinks he deserves for his efforts. Instead, his life is full of hardship, and he blames God.

His interaction with the Devil focuses on truth, which is seeing things for what they are. The father knows the Devil is a liar and does not want that for his son. Yet, although he turns the Devil down and tries to walk away from his lies, the father has actually already figuratively embraced the Devil’s lies in that he believes God unjust, which is not true.

The father is so confused that he ends up believing Death a true representative of equality. After all, doesn’t everybody die, whether rich or poor, good or bad? In that simplistic sense, Death does indeed appear the great equalizer.

But equality is not just about making everything the same in a quantifiable way. It’s much more fundamentally about recognizing the equality of everyone based on their dignity as a child of God. Put differently, equality is derived from the love God has for us. Paradoxically, the more we lessen ourselves through humility and obedience, the greater our love is returned to God.

RAGS TO RICHES AND BACK AGAIN

Like Cinderella, this story has a “rags to riches” motif, but the eventual wealth and fame of the Godson is neither to his credit nor is it lasting. Instead, it was born out of making a deal of sorts with Death. True, his dad made it on his behalf in the first place, but the Godson is complicit nonetheless in that he goes along with it as he grows.  

If we look at this from the Godson’s perspective, we might say that he was “trapped” by his family just as many children in the Middle Ages must have felt. If the father was poor, so too would be the son. While the Godson in this story escapes his father’s poverty, he does not escape his father’s distorted view of the world.

Like him, the Godson does not understand the meaning of justice, truth, and equality. He thinks he deserves his wealth and yet is willing to lie to attain it. What’s more, he wants Death to treat him differently than others simply because he is his Godson. Such exceptions would have been the very thing his birth father would have deplored.

As my students heartily agree, the Godson gets what he deserves in the end. While none seem to like that he dies, it is a fitting sort of justice. With Death as a Godfather, he should not have expected life.  

CONCLUSION

After discussing this story with my students, they tend to agree that anti-fairy tales, complete with all their grim details and unhappy endings, are good for kids to read. It shows them—albeit in an exaggerated way—what could happen if they make bad choices.

Sure, it might be a bit dark, but it becomes less so when we tease out the themes and look at what they are trying to shed light on. Even a very young child would be quick to realize that everything went wrong in Godfather Death when the father turned his back on God. And hopefully, that same child would learn from the mistakes in the story and embrace God instead, especially in difficult times.

Fairy Tales #7: The Mermaid

Magical. Mysterious. Heartbreaking. Perplexing. It’s hard to come up with just the right adjective to describe The Mermaid by Hans Christian Andersen. His storyline does not fit squarely into the fairy tale world that rewards virtue (think Cinderella) nor does it fall neatly into the anti-fairy tale world that punishes vice (think Godfather Death). It’s a little of both, kind of like real life, and that makes it surprisingly uncomfortable in a child’s story.

Nevertheless, I include it in my line-up of fairy tales because that discomfort makes it a powerful teaching tool. Let’s take a look at the plot and then try to understand the lessons Hans Christian Andersen was trying to get across. There is tremendous wisdom there for parents and children alike.

PLOT SUMMARY
Exposition – The Background

Though no humans have ever seen it, a great kingdom exists deep under the sea. It is ruled by the sea king who lives with his mother and six charming mermaid daughters. Like all mermaids, they are created to live 300 years, upon the expiration of which they will turn into seafoam.

The daughters have a strong fascination with the human world above but are not permitted to go there until their fifteenth birthday. In the meantime, they content themselves with their grandmother’s stories about humans and collect various artifacts from shipwrecks and the like. One by one, each sister has her turn to go to the surface until it comes to the youngest, called simply “the little mermaid.”

Inciting Incident – The Problem

The little mermaid spends her first night above the surface of the ocean watching a party aboard a great ship. As it turns out, the crew was celebrating the sixteenth birthday of a handsome prince. A storm sweeps in, lightning strikes, and the ship begins to go under.

The little mermaid, who was watching the prince most intently, sees that he has been knocked unconscious. She at first plans to take him home to her collection but then realizes he would die under water. She instead swims him to shore and leaves him on the beach.

Rising Action – The Build-up

From that day forward, the little mermaid falls into a downcast state. She thinks of the prince all the time and hopes in vain to see him again. As her grandmother explains, mermaids are not made for the human world. Not only do they lack legs, but they also do not have souls. Not willing to give up her dream of being with the prince, she eventually goes to the sea witch and begs her help.

Climax – The Point of No Return

The sea witch agrees to change the little mermaid’s tail into legs so she can join the human world. In exchange the little mermaid must give up her voice, which is her most alluring asset and the essence of who she is. Though her legs will be beautiful on the outside, they will cause her great pain. With each step, she will feel as though she is walking on knives.

Additionally, the little mermaid must win the love of the prince to stay a human. If he marries another, she will die and instantly turn into seafoam, forfeiting the 300 years she otherwise would have had.  Even knowing all this, the little mermaid accepts the bargain, drinks a magical potion, and gets legs.

Falling Action – The Unraveling

On land, the little mermaid soon meets the prince. He is taken with her and eventually confesses that he loves her better than anyone else, but he nonetheless pines after the elusive woman who had previously saved him from the shipwreck. All the while, the prince has no idea that the little mermaid is indeed she. Without her voice, the she is unable to tell him who she really is.

The prince’s father arranges for him to be married to a princess from a nearby kingdom. The prince reluctantly agrees to meet the princess and ends up believing her the woman who saved him. (Unlike in the Disney version, the princess does not try to deceive the prince, he simply believes it of his own will. She’s the one, so to speak.)

The two are married at once in a grand ceremony at sea with the little mermaid in attendance.

Resolution – Almost Happily Ever After
The Little Mermaid’s Sisters by Anne Anderson

The poor little mermaid is miserable during the ceremony and reception, for she knows that she will die upon the following morn. In the final moments before the sunrise, her mermaid sisters rise to the surface and try to help her. They present her with a magical dagger they got from the sea witch and beg her to kill the prince. If she does so, she will get her mermaid life back.

The little mermaid nearly kills him but thinks better of it. No sooner does the sun come up, then she dies according to the terms of her agreement with the sea witch.

Unexpectedly, however, the little mermaid finds herself in the presence of beings called “daughters of the air.” In her new state, she will have 300 years to win a soul by doing unseen good in the human world. Though in the end she does not get to live happily ever with the prince, she will get to live eternally in heaven.

PLOT ANALYSIS

Few of my students ever like the ending of The Mermaid though they mostly see the justice of it. The reason the little mermaid does not get to live happily ever after with the prince is because she was not created for that purpose. She was made to be a mermaid, not a human. What’s more, she clearly compromises herself when she bargains with the sea witch, so the human life she assumes is false.

But if she does not deserve to get the prince, then why does she get to win a soul? After all, mermaids are supposed to live their mortal lives for 300 years and then turn into seafoam—no soul, no heaven, nothing. And yet she gets something better than her mermaid family when she rises up with the daughters of the air upon her death.  

In order to answer that question, we need to first examine the world of the story.

Ocean, Earth, Sky, Heaven

Hans Christian Andersen builds a natural hierarchy into his setting that begins with the ocean on the bottom, moves up to the earth, then onto the sky, and concludes with heaven.

The mermaids of the ocean are akin to animals in that they have bodies but do not have souls. As such, they are lower than their earthly counterparts, the humans, who have bodies and souls. The daughters of the air are kind of in limbo. They have neither body nor soul but the promise of both. Finally, heaven is the highest place, and it can only be reached with a soul.

The “Voice” of the Soul

Though the mermaids do not have souls, they do have beautiful voices. In fact, their voices are their essence. That means that when the little mermaid bargains with the sea witch and sells her voice, it is kind of like she is selling her soul to the devil.

So intent is she on marrying the prince that she is willing to compromise herself beyond recognition. One drink of the sea witch’s potion and her mermaid tail turns into legs. She likes that trade, despite the physical pain it entails, because it makes her more attractive to the prince. But she also loses her voice, which makes her less attractive. Not only is she unable to win his love through her songs, but she cannot even tell him who she is.

Literally, her identity is gone; figuratively, her true self, her very essence, is lost.

My students generally have mixed feelings about the little mermaid’s deal with the sea witch. Many are inclined to see it as a rather innocent or even commendable action because she is “following her heart.” The problem with that interpretation, however, is that it forgets that the little mermaid does not have a human heart to follow. She is less than a human, so to speak. Thus, her heart is not guiding her in a virtuous sense but in more of an instinctual, covetous sense.

To Be Human

Luckily, the little mermaid finds her true self in the final moments of her life when she is given the chance to kill the prince in order to save herself. As we know, she chooses to let herself die rather than kill him. This act is the first selfless one she has performed.

To review, everything in her life up to that point was designed for her sake. She wants to marry the prince because she wants him and the immortal soul marriage could give her. Of course she saves his life on the shipwreck, but she does so to add him to her collection. Hence, even that service is rendered thinking first of herself.

In contrast, she saves the prince’s life in the end, full-knowing she will lose her own. Her sisters, well-intentioned as they are, behave like mermaids when they give her the knife. “Look out for yourself,” they remind her in short. Theirs is a survival instinct. Yet, the little mermaid has overcome that instinct in herself. She has become like a human in that she finally knows the meaning of love. She knows that true love, agape, is about sacrifice.

In that final act of sacrificial love, she wins a place among the daughters of the sky. She likewise gets her voice back and wins the promise of a soul.

CONCLUSION

Even if you are extremely faithful, this ending is a hard one, especially for a child. Hans Christian Andersen knew that to be the case, yet he wrote it anyways. Simply put, he wanted to teach children to consider the full weight of their actions. His message, though grave, is not meant to scare.

We can tell this by looking at his narrative voice. Hans Christian Andersen is what I call a parent narrator. His voice is wise and discerning, gentle and reassuring as he tells what turns out to be a very sad story. As readers, we know he cares for his little mermaid much as the sea king does. He does not want the little mermaid to trade her voice to the sea witch for a false promise of happily ever after, nor does he want any of his readers to make similarly fatal mistakes.

Yet he does not scold or rebuke the little mermaid. He knows such headstrong desires are a part of life. Like a good parent, he trusts his little mermaid will figure out her mistakes and expects her to make amends for them, even if it takes 300 years.

Fairy Tales #1: Introduction

I once asked my seventh grade class what a fairy tale was, and one student said, “It’s a story that begins with Tinker Bell waving her wand over the Disney Castle.” She was joking, of course, but her words were illuminating.

Many children today associate fairy tales with the magical world of Disney and know little of the literary let alone the historical background behind them. That’s because Disney has a type of cultural monopoly over fairy tales that allows them to dictate storylines (and insert social politics) according to their commercial business preferences.

Some of their changes are small—just have Cinderella’s dad die so he doesn’t seem like such a deadbeat. No big deal to lose one measly character. Some of the changes are big—let Ariel live happily ever after with Prince Eric. Turning the little mermaid into seafoam as punishment for disobeying her father doesn’t exactly make for a box office hit. Other changes are complete transformations. How exactly is Frozen supposed to be based on The Snow-Queen?

I get it. It’s all about the bottom line. And frankly, Disney’s versions are just as authentic as the so-called “originals.” After all, fairy tales come from a long tradition of oral storytelling which allows the teller to add, subtract, stretch, and reinvent as desired. Even Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm did that.

(Yup! They didn’t “write” the tales that now bare their name. They actually traveled from town to town collecting and recording stories that were already being told.)

Defining Fairy Tales

So what holds a fairy tale together? What do they all have in common?

When I first started teaching fairy tales, I tried to find a definition to share with my students that would answer those precise questions. Most definitions talked about good conquering evil. That certainly rings true, but Disney’s version of “good” is totally different than, say, Hans Christian Andersen’s.

Let’s return to The Mermaid for a moment, which inspired Disney’s The Little Mermaid. The “goodness” of obedience was swapped out for a modern “goodness” of independence. Throw cultural differences into the mix, and you’re left with an even more ambiguous understanding of what constitutes “good.”

What’s more, most stories boil down to some kind of good versus evil paradigm, so there needs to be something further that sets fairy tales apart from other genres. This is where my student’s playful comment about Tinker Bell comes in handy because it captures the dreamy side of fairy tales and the promise of “happily ever after.” No doubt Disney’s branding with the “magical kingdom” depicts the essence of this.

Putting it all together, I eventually came up with the following definition: a fairy tale is a fanciful, make-believe story that reveals a particular set of values about society and pivots around the rewards of virtue overcoming vice.

Lake Scene with Fairies and Swans by Robert Caney

I like this definition because it allows for differences across time and place (e.g., values which are changeable) while still maintaining a set of universal principals (e.g., virtues which are unchanging). While fairy tales originated in the Middle Ages and are generally set in that time period, they are not constrained by it. Likewise, they are not limited to Western culture.

Just think of the many versions of Cinderella told all over the world. Yeh-Shen, which is a Chinese version, was one of my favorites when I was little. Like the Disney version and the Brothers Grimm version before that, it has the basic “rags to riches” storyline. A major difference, however, is that a magical fish grants Yeh-Shen’s wish to go to the ball. This reflects significant cultural differences in China wherein fish are symbols of good fortune. Nevertheless, the reasons the fish rewards Yeh-Shen are consistent with those of Disney’s Fairy Godmother and the Grimms’ magical tree: Cinderella is being rewarded for her virtues.

Fairy tales are told to bestow lessons and to offer the promise of reward if those lessons are followed. The “happily ever after” motif was a particularly powerful one in the Middle Ages where the vast majority of the population was plagued with hardship. They taught young children that if you live a life of virtue, then you will be rewarded. Of course, that reward was not really expected to be found in an earthly palace but rather in a heavenly one.   

Continuing the Tradition

There are countless reasons to study the “original” fairy tales today. They’re enjoyable, for one, but they’re also a lens into the hopes and fears of the common people of the Middle Ages and the Renaissance. Given how dominated historical accounts of the time were by the affairs of royalty and nobility, fairy tales offer a type of anthropology into the lives of everybody else.

But that’s still not all. Fairy tales give us pause to reflect on our own lives. They remind us that though the world is a scary place wrought with danger, we should take heart. Virtue will prevail, if not in life then in death. As G.K. Chesterton put it, 

“Fairy tales do not tell children the dragons exist. Children already know that dragons exist. Fairy tales tell children the dragons can be killed.”

And that’s the number one reason why children should read fairy tales, especially the “originals” that tend to be starker. To that end, this series will analyze some of the fairy tales I use in my classroom, including those that are both well-known and lesser-known: Cinderella, Godfather Death, The Snow-Queen, Little Red Cap, The Twelve Brothers, The Mermaid, The Fisherman and His Wife, Cat and Mouse in Partnership, The Little Match Seller, and The Emperor’s New Clothes. Finally, I will share the types of classical exercises I use them for with my students.

Image courtesy of The National Gallery of Art, Washington

Fairy Tales #12: A Classical Study

There is something about reading fairy tales that is quintessentially classical. After all, classical education considers the great stories of Western culture one of its core foundations. So if at the end of a school day I have read a fairy tale with my students, I am usually pleased. But, if that’s where it ends, I am all the more disappointed.

Rich as they are for the moral imagination, I try to draw as much from them as possible. Here is a breakdown of some of my favorite extension activities to do with students.

DISCOURSE
Socratic Discussion

A classical mainstay, Socratic discussion is at the heart of my approach to studying fairy tales. We discuss the stories in small groups and as a whole class, often rearranging the desks and chairs so we form one large circle or several smaller ones. This discursive format helps students break down the plot and unpack its core symbols.

I guide the discussions but play a limited role in order to encourage active engagement from the students. Plus, it lets them tease out the ideas that they find most interesting. In this way, students feel a greater sense of ownership in the discussions and make more personal contributions.

Disputation

This is a really fun one that serves as a natural outgrowth of Socratic discussion. Disputation involves debating key aspects of the story, typically those that pose moral dilemmas. For example, in reading Cat and Mouse in Partnership, we might debate whether the mouse should have formed a partnership with the cat. Or when reading Cinderella, we might debate whether or not it is a good story for little kids.

Sometimes our debates are very formal with preparation and regulated rounds. Other times, they are of a more impromptu style. Either way, the students get very animated and impassioned.

CREATIVE WRITING
Plot Reinvention

Another exercise I really like is plot reinvention. First, students have to thoroughly understand the original plot of the story, meaning they can express the inciting incident, climax, and resolution for themselves much as I have done in this blog series. Once they can do this, they choose an element to change.

If, for example, the father in Godfather Death were to choose God, then the whole story would change. The student’s job would be to tell that new story. One of the great things about this exercise is that it gives students a concrete place to start writing, which can be very difficult with more open-ended prompts.  

Character Reinvention

Character reinvention follows this same principle. What if Little Red Cap were a naughty girl? Or what if the fisherman had a tougher upper lip? Or how about making the youngest sister in Twelve Brothers a real chatter-box?

When students develop a whole new approach to a character, it affects all of his or her motives and actions and can lead to a different, not to mention highly entertaining, story altogether.

Working from Art

I also like projecting beautiful paintings or sketches from fairy tales and having students write just one scene based on the picture. This approach is a little more contained than the previous two, so it makes it easier for students to develop sharp, properly formatted dialogue and well-planned narration. As such, it readily doubles as a grammar lesson as well as a creative writing exercise.


Cinderella by John Everett Millais

In preparation for writing a scene for Cinderella, I might depict the painting above by John Everett Millais and prompt students with the following: Describe the moment in time depicted here. What are the character’s thoughts? Words? Actions? Draw your ideas together as a scene from the story. Be sure to include dialogue and narration.

ARTISTIC RENDERING
Reflective Journaling

There are a number of mediums one could use for reflective journaling, but one I really like is water color. This entails students painting something they found inspiring in a fairy tale.

After reading The Little Match Seller, one might paint a wood stove, another a Christmas tree, or even the little girl flying up to Heaven. Once students have painted their pictures, they reflect in writing on what they have depicted and why. When that’s done, they walk around and view everyone else’s journals in what we call a “museum walk.”

All the while, we play classical music and otherwise maintain silence. It makes for a very relaxing, thoughtful environment, not to mention beautiful work. 

Story Board

This one is borrowed from the publishing industry wherein editors lay out words on a story board and then contract illustrators to matches them with pictures. I have students do the same thing with a fairy tale.

Their story boards can be very elaborate or more of a quick sketch, true to the story or reinvented using one of the models above. Either way, students fine-tune their understanding of the plot and have the opportunity to do so in an artistic, visual way.

Act Them Out

Most of my students like acting out the fairy tales best of all. I give them liberty to keep or change whatever they want in the plots. For that matter, they can even combine plots as long as it makes sense. Their job is to write the script, memorize it, and present it in a formal production. Ideally, we invite other classes in the school to come and watch.

CONCLUSION

These types of exercises cause students to think deeply about the fairy tales. This is extremely valuable from an educational standpoint, not least because it helps students to really understand the stories and develop their own insights.

It is perhaps even more valuable from a moral standpoint because the lessons can serve as a guide for life’s real-world difficulties. When, for example, they are discerning the nature of a friendship, they can draw from Cat and Mouse in Partnership. They can look to The Mermaid or The Snow Queen when trying to understand the true meaning of love. Perhaps they will think about The Emperor’s New Clothes when they eventually come to critique politics. Or maybe, they will take heart from The Little Match Seller in the face of personal suffering, which no doubts awaits everyone at some point or another.

Whatever the case may be, by extending the fairy tales with additional exercises, students come to embody them in a way that will enrich their lives forever. At least that’s my hope.

Image in the public domain

Fairy Tales #9: Cat and Mouse in Partnership

Cats and mice are natural born enemies, so what happens when they form a partnership in a fairy tale by the Brothers Grimm? The mouse gets eaten, of course!

While our modern sentiments want to defy stereotypes and recast the villain as a hero or a misunderstood outcast, that was not so in the Middle Ages when Cat and Mouse in Partnership was first told. Things were a little more black and white back then, at least in the world of their fairy tales where lessons needed to be crystal clear.

Cat and Mouse by Christian Rohlfs

If it looks like a cat and purrs like a cat, so to speak, then it’s a cat all right. And if you’re a mouse, then you’d better stay away. But the little mouse in our story doesn’t. Let’s take a look at the plot and figure out why.

PLOT SUMMARY
Exposition – The Background

A cat meets a mouse.

Inciting Incident – The Problem

And the cat says all manner of nice things to the mouse in order to win her friendship.

Rising Action – The Build-up

The unlikely pair then buys a pot of fat together and stores it in the church for safekeeping until winter. Meanwhile, they move in together, but the cat secretly covets the pot of fat and contrives to have it all to himself.

Three times he lies to the mouse and says that he must go to the church to stand as godfather for a newborn kitten.

The first time, he licks off the top layer of fat. When he comes home, the mouse inquires about the baptism and asks the kitten’s name. The cat says the kitten was christened “Top-Off.” Though an unusual name, the mouse does not give it much thought.

The second time, the cat eats down to the middle of the pot. Again, he gives the make-believe kitten a fake name, calling him “Half-Gone.” The name worries the mouse, but she does not press the matter.

Climax – The Breaking Point

The third time, the cat devours the rest of the pot and says the kitten was christened “All-Gone.” The mouse grows even more worried but still does not realize the cat is lying.

Falling Action – The Unraveling

When winter comes and food grows scarce, the mouse goes to the church with the cat and discovers the pot of fat empty.

Anti-resolution – Not So Happily Ever After

Before she can finish accusing the cat, he eats her up, and so ends their partnership!

PLOT ANALYSIS

The mouse should have known better than to trust a cat. So why did she? Was she worried about being prejudicial? Did she just want to give him a chance?

Of course not! Those explanations are too modern to apply, not to mention they are not supported by the text, which says very plainly that the cat tricked the mouse through flattery. The mouse should have trusted her instincts, not her vanity. As a result, she misplaced her trust altogether.

Cat and Mouse in Partnership by Walter Crane

The mouse was happy to keep the company of the cat because he boosted her ego. Yet, the cat was biding his time to eat her all the while. As such, neither was really friend to the other. Theirs was a partnership of convenience and met a certain death when that convenience, the pot of fat, ran out.

Neither the cat nor the mouse emerges a likable character. One is a foolish victim, and the other is a cunning predator.

CONCLUSION

Naturally, many middle school students like the ones I teach can readily relate to both characters. What seems to be a true friendship in sixth grade turns out to be merely a partnership of convenience in seventh. If left unchecked, it meets an unhappy ending by eighth.

That sounds rather daunting! But fear not, the Brothers Grimm have sound advice to offer. Simply put, trust your instincts. It’s good to give people a chance, but don’t be fooled by flattery or popularity or something else superficial. You can usually see through the façade if you can get over your ego.

And finally, just as we need to safeguard ourselves from cats, we also need to make sure we don’t turn into a cat.

First image courtesy of the National Gallery of Art, Washington D.C.; Second image in the public domain