Hansel and Gretel

The poor family on the verge of starving with so little they must send their children away into the woods? Throughout history we have come across times where means where so tight that many parents have opted to send their children away, generally to other family members that are better off or to orphanages. At times we find that parents are so desperate that they feel the need to abandoned their children whether in the woods, a river, a church, these days some are so desperate the leave their children in the trash.  I used to think that was a harsh joke older siblings said to younger ones, that they were found in the trash but the truth is many parents are not much different from those of Hansel and Gretel.
When reading the Grimm Brothers final edition (1857) of Hansel and Gretel, we know the tale the children are abandoned in the woods by their parents not once but twice since the first time Hansel was too clever, leaving a trail of stones to find their way back. The second time however, they get lost since Hansel could not fills his pockets with stone; he uses bread crumbs which are eaten by the birds. While the search for their way home, the children happen upon a house made of bread, cakes and candy; the house of a wicked witch set out to eat them. If it were not for clever little Gretel pushing the witch into the oven, the witch would have had them for dinner for sure. The witch is dead; Gretel saves herself and her brother and as a reward the take the witches riches and return home to their father and live happily ever after in wealth.

So what does it mean? The parents do not want to watch their children die, so the step-mother makes the father abandon is children in the woods; can a mother, even a step-mother be so cruel and selfish or is this an annotation of the fears that children may have that the one who gave them life will leave them. It is the father that does not want to let them go, yet he does as his wife wishes; perhaps this tale also is a means of change in society from matriarch to patriarch enforcing the importance of the father in the home. While Hansel at first saves him and sister by cleverly dropping pebbles to find their way, the second time the step-mother locks the doors preventing him from gathering the pebbles.
When we look at the women of this tale we have the step-mother that wants to be rid of the children, Gretel that starts off as a fearful girl dependent on her brother for safety and ends up the heroine depending on herself to get her and her brother out of trouble. There is no fairy god-mother and no handsome prince to come and safe the day but there is God. In the final edition of this tale, Hansel tells Gretel, “God will not forsake us” sending her back to sleep without fear and when the witch grew impatient waiting for Hansel to get fat, Gretel prayed “Dear God, please help us” and with this pray Gretel gains the insight to know the witch had planned to push her in the oven and Gretel was able to outsmart the witch and pushed the witch into the oven instead saving herself and her brother; leaving one to believe that with determination and faith in God any challenge can be overcome.