Narrative Article about “Snow White”–

 
(1) Title: “Snow White”. 
 
(2) Introduction: “Snow White” is a fairy tale, which was written by the Grimm Brothers.  Like most of the Grimm tales, it has many deep meanings.  It is popular with children in many parts of the world. 
 
(3) Setting (time): The story takes place long, long ago. 
 
(4) Setting (place): The general scene is probably in the great German forest.  Specific scenes are in the queen’s castle, the forest, and the dwarf’s home. 
 
(5) Characters: There are many characters in this story, and they are closely inter-related. 
       Snow White was a princess.  When she was young, her mother died.  Throughout her life, she was very beautiful and kind.  Moreover, she was very innocent in her thoughts, and this led to many of her troubles.  She was also helpful. 
       The stepmother was the typical personification of evil.  She was a witch, and cast magic charms.  Her main fault was that she was vain (desiring to be the most beautiful), and envious (of Snow White, who was beautiful).  In order to get what she wanted, she was ruthless, cunning, determined, and cruel. 
       The Seven Dwarfs were miners, who worked in the forest.  They were kind, hard-working, and co-operative.  They all had different characters (especially in the film).  They were clever, helpful, and lived the ideal life. 
       The hunter was a minor character.  He was told by the queen to kill Snow White, but he did not, as he was merciful, kind-hearted.  He was also brave and strong. 
       The Prince, another minor character,  ultimately married Snow White.  He was handsome, and was a risk-taker. 
       The Mirror, although not a “person”, has the position of a character, because it spoke to the queen, and fore-told all sorts of things to her.  In character, the Mirror was brutally honest in what it said to the queen, which ultimately led to her downfall. 
 
(6) Plot Summary: The story generally flows in sequence, and can be divided as follows: 
       In the early years, Snow White was born into the king’s household.  Life there was happy and ideal.  It seemed as if nothing could go wrong. 
       Then the “bad days” came.  Snow White’s mother died.  The king later re-married, but the new woman was very cruel to Snow White.  (It is this step-mother that has become the arch-type of the term “the evil step-mother” in western culture.) 
       The queen hired the hunter to take Snow White out into the forest, and there kill her.  The hunter had compassion of Snow White, for he was moved by her entreaties.  So, instead of killing her, he killed an animal, and showed its heart to the queen.  Meanwhile, Snow White escaped into the forest. 
       In the forest, Snow White became lost.  In time, she found a house, went inside, ate some of the food on the table, and slept in one of the beds.  The Seven Dwarfs, whose home it was, came home and found Snow White asleep in one of their beds, and woke her up.  After a talk, they worked out a “housing arrangement”.  They lived together happily. 
       Meanwhile, the queen learned about Snow White being still alive, as the Mirror told her.  She tried three times to kill Snow White. 
       First, she presented Snow White with a poisoned comb.  However, the Dwarfs saved Snow White, and she survived. 
       Second, the queen gave Snow White a corset, and tied it up so tight that Snow White could not breathe.  The Dwarfs saved Snow White again. 
       Third, the queen gave Snow White a poisoned apple, and this time, Snow White ate it, and fell down, “asleep”.  The Dwarfs did not know what to do with her, so they put her into a box with a glass top, so they could look at her a lot.  The were very sad. 
       In time, the prince came by, as he was hunting.  He saw her “sleeping” body, and kissed her.  Snow White woke up, and they fell in love.  In time, they married, and the queen went mad, and killed herself. 
 
(7) Conflict: There are three major areas of “literary conflict” in this story: 
       Who is the more beautiful of the two–the queen, or Snow White?  This leads to the queen hating Snow White, and trying to kill her. 
       There is an unspoken “conflict” between the queen and her Mirror–that is, between the queen’s vanity, and the Mirror’s honesty. 
       In this story, one wonders, what will happen to Snow White?  Will she live, or die? 
 
(8) Resolution of Conflict: The above “conflicts” are resolved as follows: 
       Snow White is the more beautiful.
       The Mirror’s honesty is stronger.  In time, the queen commits suicide. 
       Snow White awakes from her “sleep”, marries the prince, and has a good life. 
 
(9) Conclusion: At heart, “Snow White” is a moral fable, with the characters representing various, deeper truths.  There is a lot of deep meaning to be gleaned from this story, which teaches us about life, character, and consequences.  This story has always been popular around the world, both with children (and adults, too).  It will probably be read by people for many years to come.