The Little Mermaid Hell
In Hans Christian Andersen’s “The Little Mermaid” we witness that there is not an actual Heaven for the mermaid but a sub-heaven that is a reflection of Heaven. It goes to say that in “The Girl Who Stepped on Bread” also by Andersen, there is a sub-hell (not actual Hell), where she stands in the form of a statue in the entrance hall. Both these place are not where the characters expected to be, yet one scarified herself ending up in a sub-heaven and the other will suffer in the entrance hall of hell for using bread as a way to get over water. In “The Little Mermaid,” the mermaid ends up going to a sub-heaven where she is able to obtain an immortal soul in 300 years. It doesn’t come easy for the little mermaid because she can “win one by good
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deeds.” (76) Some of the ways to do good deeds are “[flying] to the warm countries, where the heavy air of the plague rests, and blow cool winds to spread it” (76) and even “carry the smell of flowers that refresh and heal the sick.” (76) Those are just some good deed that can be done and if they have a child who is happy and gets their parents love, then God will take one year off the 300 to get a soul. If there is a child who is misbehaving and being naughty, then for every tear they cry (the one trying to obtain a soul) is another day added to their 300 years. It seems as though the little mermaid has a much easier time than Inger in “The Girl Who Stepped on Bread.”
Inger is the one who ends up in a sub-hell, referred to as the entrance hall to Hell.
She is here in this situation because she was given some expensive bread to give to her parents when she went to go and visit them. Inger is a girl who cares more about herself than anyone else. She makes excuses not to see her parents and seems more like a brat. Some say she deserved to go to Hell because she used the loaf of bread to step over a puddle because she was “dressed in her very best clothes and put on her new shoes.” (607) She ends up in two different places, the first is the Bog-Witch’s lair. The bog witch is the aunt to the elves and here is where her body stiffens up to a statue leaving the bread attached to her foot. She could feel “the snakes and toads felt so cold against her body that she shivered and shook.” (608) Then the great-grandmother of the Devil likes Inger and states that she would look great at the entrance hall to Hell. Once Inger arrives she notices that she is not the only figure waiting here and that “every one of these immovable statues had a soul within it that was as restless as its body was rigid and stiff.” (608) She has all these flies around her, that didn’t have wings and she was filthy but nothing compared to the hunger she felt. She wanted to break a piece of the bead but was not able to because she was stiff as could be. Inger could her from above what people would say about her and they didn’t feel bad saying she deserved it except for a little
girl. Overall Inger suffers for quiet sometime before she’s free as a bird. Both characters have a sort of trial to go through before that can obtain what they desire. The mermaid wants to have an immortal soul and will get the chance to have on in 300 years or so. Inger on the other hand suffered quite a bit for being the selfish person she was. In the end when she free as a bird she collects bread crumbs and gives them away, collecting the weight of the bread she stepped on. She then later gets her wings changed from “grey to white” (613) and “[flies] right into the sun.” (613)
deeds.” (76) Some of the ways to do good deeds are “[flying] to the warm countries, where the heavy air of the plague rests, and blow cool winds to spread it” (76) and even “carry the smell of flowers that refresh and heal the sick.” (76) Those are just some good deed that can be done and if they have a child who is happy and gets their parents love, then God will take one year off the 300 to get a soul. If there is a child who is misbehaving and being naughty, then for every tear they cry (the one trying to obtain a soul) is another day added to their 300 years. It seems as though the little mermaid has a much easier time than Inger in “The Girl Who Stepped on Bread.”
Inger is the one who ends up in a sub-hell, referred to as the entrance hall to Hell.
She is here in this situation because she was given some expensive bread to give to her parents when she went to go and visit them. Inger is a girl who cares more about herself than anyone else. She makes excuses not to see her parents and seems more like a brat. Some say she deserved to go to Hell because she used the loaf of bread to step over a puddle because she was “dressed in her very best clothes and put on her new shoes.” (607) She ends up in two different places, the first is the Bog-Witch’s lair. The bog witch is the aunt to the elves and here is where her body stiffens up to a statue leaving the bread attached to her foot. She could feel “the snakes and toads felt so cold against her body that she shivered and shook.” (608) Then the great-grandmother of the Devil likes Inger and states that she would look great at the entrance hall to Hell. Once Inger arrives she notices that she is not the only figure waiting here and that “every one of these immovable statues had a soul within it that was as restless as its body was rigid and stiff.” (608) She has all these flies around her, that didn’t have wings and she was filthy but nothing compared to the hunger she felt. She wanted to break a piece of the bead but was not able to because she was stiff as could be. Inger could her from above what people would say about her and they didn’t feel bad saying she deserved it except for a little
girl. Overall Inger suffers for quiet sometime before she’s free as a bird. Both characters have a sort of trial to go through before that can obtain what they desire. The mermaid wants to have an immortal soul and will get the chance to have on in 300 years or so. Inger on the other hand suffered quite a bit for being the selfish person she was. In the end when she free as a bird she collects bread crumbs and gives them away, collecting the weight of the bread she stepped on. She then later gets her wings changed from “grey to white” (613) and “[flies] right into the sun.” (613)