A Tale Dark and Grimm

Fiction | Novel | Middle Grade | Published in 2010

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Summary

Background

Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Chapters 1-3

Chapters 4-6

Chapters 7-9

Character Analysis

Themes

Symbols & Motifs

Important Quotes

Essay Topics

Tools

Beta

Discussion Questions

Symbols & Motifs

The Rule of Three

Characters and events appear in groups of three throughout A Tale Dark and Grimm. Gidwitz uses triples, commonly known as “the power of three” or “the rule of three,” primarily for emphasis and to establish patterns. Fairy tales are known for using characters in threes, such as the three bears of “Goldilocks and the Three Bears” or “The Three Little Pigs,” and Gidwitz keeps to this tradition with the three ravens.

Repeating an event or story element three times establishes a pattern, such as the three riddles Hansel finds answers to in hell, and Hansel’s three different excuses for pulling out the devil’s hair. Groups of three also allow for patterns to be broken, such as when Hansel and Gretel ask for help to find the seven swallows. The sun and moon are unhelpful and have negative characteristics, where the stars are kind and supportive. The stars break the pattern, emphasizing how different they are from the sun and moon.

The pattern of three also helps readers recall story events and characters. This is particularly useful in the oral tradition of storytelling, which is how fairy tales were originally rendered. Many fairy tales also have religious undertones; three is a common number in religion, one example being the holy trinity in Christianity—father, son, and holy spirit.

Spells and Curses

Spells and curses play roles throughout A Tale Dark and Grimm. In Chapter 1, Johannes warns the new king not to visit the golden princess because she is cursed when it comes to marriage, and ignoring this advice jumpstarts the story. Gidwitz never makes clear if the events the ravens discuss in Chapter 1 are part of the princess’s curse, but whether they are or not ultimately doesn’t matter. Johannes acts against the supposed curse to save the king, leading to the events that motivate Hansel and Gretel to run away and begin their adventure.

Hansel and Gretel both face curses, such as Hansel becoming part beast and Gretel’s encounter with the handsome young man’s magic. For both children, these curses are an opportunity to grow, and each comes through their struggle with unique skills that help them in the later fight against the dragon. After Hansel and Gretel behead their father, a spindly creature crawls from his body, and it’s never made clear how this creature got inside the king or how it allowed him to transform into a dragon. It may be that this creature is cursed to bring a curse upon others, or the creature may cast a spell that allows itself to become stronger but only if it inhabits another being. Spells and curses mainly create obstacles for Hansel and Gretel to face, suggesting that magic is a dark force in the story world.

Gold

Gold appears throughout the book and symbolizes things ultimately working out, even if the road to resolution is long and complex. In Chapter 1, the new king brings gifts of gold to the golden princess, who has a weakness for gold. While these gifts lead to the happiness of marriage and children, they also cause Johannes to turn to stone and lead to Hansel and Gretel being beheaded.

The gold in Chapter 1 starts the story on its path to its happy ending, but is also a catalyst for the hardships Hansel and Gretel face. After Hansel escapes from hell, one of the villages gives him a wagon of gold apples in exchange for learning how to lift their curse. Hansel and Gretel use these apples to lure the dragon into the forest; this backfires because they showed the apples to their father while the dragon possessed him.

Again, gold precipitates a happy ending—defeating the dragon and restoring the royal family—but there is hardship before this goal is achieved. The creature that crawls from the king’s body emits a gold dust when Hansel throws it in the fire. The gold draws the people of the kingdom to the palace, where they hear the tale of Hansel and Gretel’s adventures. This gold breaks the pattern of three. Where the first two instances of gold caused distress that eventually led to a happy ending, this third appearance causes no strife and skips straight to the happy ending, where all is revealed and made well.