Hans Christian Andersens Stories - Book Report/Review Example

Further, death is obviously painful for both mothers on an individual level, but it is also an agent for redemption and the strengthening of faith. Andersen brings both stories to the same conclusion of trusting a God who knows what is best. Unlike many authors who treat death as an abstract concept, Andersen personalizes it and gives it a character role in the stories. He isn't using a philosophical idea or physiological fact in a conceptual way; he is embodying and personifying death itself.

For example, in the book of Andersen's tales translated by H. W. Dulcken where we find the Story of a Mother, death is an old man who nods his head in a strange fashion (Andersen, 1835/2002, p. 230) and even speaks to the mother by asking her "[h]ow have you been able to come quicker than I" (p. 233) when she chases him down after considerable sacrifice on her part. He has a greenhouse where the lives of the people he takes are flowers, replete with an employee who watches the place while he is out making his rounds.

In this setting, he and the mother engage in a dialogue that addresses the impact of destiny. The effect of this approach is quite dramatic. The reader is not looking at a theory; we are looking at a face. Andersen's anthropomorphism puts the deeper concepts of life after death and faith in God into tangible reality. As discussed further in this paper, Andersen has a point to make about life and faith. This in itself is not unique. By employing the literary technique of giving death a face, body, clothing, property, and a voice, however, Andersen's method of getting his point across is distinctive and impactful.

In communicating his message of faith, Andersen does not flinch from exposing us to the pain of the two mothers. While it is not hard to imagine that a mother would mourn the loss of a child, he presents the pain in an interesting and acute way. In the Child in the Grave, we see a picture of the mother's pain articulated in expected ways. ".the disconsolate mother sat with her young daughters.[s]he gave herself up to her grief, and it tossed her to and fro, as the sea tosses a ship without compass or rudder" (Andersen, 1859/2005, p.2). This is a relatively benign expression of what we would expect the mother is feeling.

Andersen's presentation of the other mother's pain is much more graphic, particularly in terms of her personal cost to find her child. She is forced to sing songs while time is of the essence, embrace a thorn bush to the point of the shedding of her own blood, as well as give up her eyes and hair to have a chance at saving her child (Andersen, 1835/2002, pp. 231-33). These techniques go far beyond the soul-pain of grief. They are personal, graphic, and sacrificial. In both cases, meeting death is horrifically painful not for the child, but for the mothers.

In fact, the children appear not to suffer at all. The mother of the child in the grave is a picture of grief further expressed through a depressive mlange of tears, sadness and insomnia. Through all of these expressions, Andersen establishes the landscape of darkness, trial and pain. He does so, however, with skillful intent. He plans to introduce a portrait of hope and light upon this dark canvas but, before he can do it effectively,