Snow White

Snow White

by the Brothers Grimm translated by Paul Heins

illustrated by Trina Schart Hyman

Ages 8-11

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The classic tale of good and evil between Snow White and her evil step-mother who works destroy her. A vain and arrogant queen is threatened by her step-daughter, Snow White's, beauty and is determined to kill her so she may be the "most beautiful in the land".  Snow White is forced to go into hiding but finds comfort and family with a group of dwarves who attempt to protect her from the evil queen.  The queen is vicious and clever in her destruction of Snow White but in the end good triumphs; Snow White finds happiness and the queen is punished. 

This was a refreshing retelling of Snow White after many viewings of the  Disney version as a child.  The language is rich and dramatic creating images of mystery and magic from the first line "Once in the middle of winter, when snowflakes were falling like feathers form the sky, a Queen sat sewing by a window, and its frame was of black ebony".  I enjoy that the writing is not simplified for children because you immediately feel like you are in a very different time and place, where everything is slightly unfamiliar and anything could happen.  The dark theme of the story is reflected in the illustrations which are done in deep watercolors and ink.  The illustrations give the characters depth rather than turning them into simplified forms of themselves: the vicious, ugly queen and non-threatening dwarves with one personality trait each.  The queen is shown with black candles burning, holding a small black cat and demons leering from the frame of her magic mirror.  The dwarves are drawn with detail as gruff miners, each with unique features, yet not altogether a vision of welcome.  The complexity of the drawings and the queen’s beauty made me pause and give her character more thought as a woman overcome by jealousy rather than dismiss her as Evil personified.  At the same time Snow White is drawn very much as a child which makes the queen's actions and her suffering even more disturbing.   I was moved by Snow White's death because it shows how much the dwarves loved her, as if she were their child and carefully prepare her for the glass coffin "We cannot bury her in the dark earth" and watch over her body.  I connected with her death in a new way even though I have heard the story again and again.

     I still could not connect with the ending of the story in which the usual prince comes and finds Snow White, immediately falls in love with her and Snow White is happy to go and marry him.  I find the concept of a man falling in love with a corpse twisted or at least obsessive and unhealthy.  Apart from this instilling possibly negative concepts of love and relationships it is this act of "love" which defeats the queen, not any courageous act on the part of Snow White.  The story is described as a conflict between good and evil however I fail to see the inherent "goodness" represented in Snow White which triumphs in the end.  I see Snow White as an innocent child who is taken advantage of and has little control over what happens to her.  The last page also leaves a strange message, the text in which the queen dies is surrounded by the magic mirror; however where there was once anguished demons and a skull there are smiling children and the queens face smiling down wickedly. I am not sure what to make of this, possibly it suggests that evil is never really defeated.

     I think this is a beautiful book and a great retelling of Snow White but I am not sure how I would feel using it with younger students.  I do not feel comfortable teaching a simplified version of good versus evil and when you start to look deeper in the story good and evil become a little less clear.  I would use this book in a class of older students, 4th grade at the youngest, as part of a fairytale study.  I would not want to use it without an previous context on fairy tales and room for discussion over story.  I would start off with more recognizable, simplified fairy tales then discuss the originals and possibly their historical context. The illustrations reflect Eastern Europe and would be a good way to connect the geography and culture of the area.  With this version of Snow White I would like to discuss with my students their reactions to the story as younger readers who may not be desensitized to the plot.  I might ask them what they thought of the characters, who they connected to and what they thought the characters motivations were.  I would also like to discuss their ideas of good and evil and what they saw as good and evil in the story.  I would encourage my students to think critically of the text: was it a happy ending?  what happened to the dwarves, how might the dwarves be viewed in a modernization? where is Snow White's father throughout the story?  I think the story, as a familiar text, would be a good way to move students to think critically.