Achenputtel By The Grimm Brothers Grimm

The short story called “Achenputtel” was written in the early 1800’s by two men in their twenties Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm in Germany. In English, readers know it as Cinderella. The Grimm brothers grew up listening to folk tales from their relatives and towns people. “We have been collecting these fairy tales for some thirteen years; …, contained mostly what we gathered little by little from the folklore of Hessen, in the regions bordering on the Main and Kinzig rivers, in the county of Hanau, where we come from” (Wortsman). They heard so many stories they decided to write some of their own with a twist. Their purpose of writing this story was to give people hope and to teach an important life lesson. That lesson being good will always outweigh evil.
Cinderella’s mother is portrayed as a nice Christian lady and when she dies her grave is covered with a “white cloth”. Also, the “white bird” that grants her wishes and the “two white pigeons” that help her pick the good lentils from the ashes. Jacob and Wilhelm emphasized the color white because it is bright, and people see it as flawless and pure. They also used the darker colors to represent evil that happens in the story. For example, the description of the stepsister’s hearts “evil and dark hearts”. The sisters made Cinderella wear “old gray smock” and “wooden shoes”. They were so evil they made her sleep on ashes to make her look “dusty and dirty” which is why they call her Cinderella. Things that were described dark were not pure and had