Hansel and Gretel Short Story
Hansel and Gretel Plot Structure
Living next to a "great forest", introduces woodcutter, stepmother, Hansel and Gretel
Stepmother argues with father, pressures him to abandon children
Extras
From narrator POV
Symbolism of sparrow symbolic of productivity, cooperation, and teamwork, and of finding joy in the little things of life. Also include a scene where the bird flies in and the step-mother chases it out.
Gretel isn't weak, more girlboss
Hansel and Gretel come up with a plan to find their way back home, and collect the little white stones, we'll call them moonstones, or the shimmering rocks
As they are guided by their parents, they drop the stones, maybe as they are walking away instead of Hansel saying he sees his white cat, he sees sparrows maybe
Hansel and Gretel are told to collect berries as their parents chop wood, Hansel and Gretel come back to their small fire and eat their hand sized piece of bread and eventually fall asleep
Hansel and Gretel follow the stones back home, perhaps seeing little sparrows on the way there, eventually walking out of the forest by early morning and finding their cottage
For another couple days they live in the house, until they run out of food again and the stepmother convinces the father to abandon them again, Hansel and Gretel try to get the stones again but the door is locked, they fall asleep as a little sparrow perches at their window.
Hansel Traits
Gretel Traits
Both very smart
more talkative
a little more reserved, quiet leader
Wearing a little brown dress with a white apron, little orange head wrap and brown pants with boots
Wearing a brown shirt with a (color symbolism) poncho on top, brown pants and boots, everything is a little broken and torn
10 years old
9 years old
They are given even smaller pieces of bread and taken into the woods as Hansel crumbles his bread and leaves it behind them, Gretel turns and says she sees birds but the mom says the same thing as the last time
Another fire is made and the step-mother tells them to sit down, no one comes to get them and Gretel shares her bread with Hansel, they fall asleep again
They wait for the moon to come out and try to find their crumbs, but the birds of the forest had already eaten them up, as a couple sparrows continue to hop around
They walk all night and all day, only eating berries that they find and store in Gretel's apron. They fall asleep under a tree, with a sparrow by their feet. They wake up on the third day since their abandonment and the sparrow has eaten all the berries out of Gretel's apron.
They get mad at the sparrow and decide to hunt and kill it, it flies away and they chase it for a while, until it flies up into the trees. They are saddened and disheartened until they hear another sparrow chirping, which flies off and they follow it to the witch's house
They run up and begin eating the house, until the witch says "Nibble, nibble, little mouse,
Who is nibbling at my house?" And they say, "The wind, the wind." they continue to eat until the witch comes out and they stop. the witch has a blindfold on so they cant see her red eyes
She lets them in to the house and allows them to feast, then she puts them to bed in beautiful cushioned beds, and gives them new clothes.
After the witch gives them new clothes, Hansel gets a new white puffy cuffed shirt, with his same old poncho, he gets new black pants and nicer boots
After the witch gives them new clothes, Gretel gets a new white dress and black apron and black pants, with new boots. She keeps her old head wrap
The next morning she wakes them up, but she forgets to put her blindfold on, so Gretel sees her red eyes and realizes she's a witch, he begins to shout but the witch covers his mouth and carries him to a cattle stall outside.
Gretel is then woken by the witch, who is forced to run to the stream and collect water where she sees a little sparrow who follows her to the witch's house but flies away when it sees her, then Gretel makes food for Hansel, while she eats nothing but scraps from bare bones and shells
As the weeks pass by, Hansel sticks a little bone out every time the witch tests if he is fat, and every time he tricks her
After four weeks, the witch is impatient and sends Gretel to fetch water so that the witch can eat him tomorrow.. When she goes to the stream she sees the little bird again and cries to it, but eventually returns back with the water
The next day the oven is set up, and the witch tries to trick Gretel into getting in the oven, but a little sparrow lands on top of the oven and gives Gretel an idea, then Gretel tricks her instead and frees Hansel from his stall, and he's much fatter than before
They rejoice and rob every corner of the witch's house, filled with pearls and gems and golden coins, they stuff them into their pockets
Once they leave the house a little sparrow guides them to a large body of water, and after crossing a fallen over tree nearby they make it across and walk until they find familiar woods.
Story begins with Gretel feeding a bird in the house and ends with feeding a bird in the house, maybe the same bird with a unique pattern or birthmark
They run into their father's house and hug and kiss him, they find out the step-mother had fallen ill and died, and they empty their pockets and reveal their new riches
A little sparrow flies in through the window and Gretel feeds it, mirroring the start of the story
color symbolism is: blue
color symbolism is: orange