A Bird in the Hand
Tess Bradshaw, Hannaleigh Pierce and Brelynd Cyphers
An analysis on how birds in fairy tales either help or hinder a situation.
The Juniper Tree by the Brothers Grimm
In many fairy tales, the bird is a symbol of or represents the human soul. The bird usually helps the hero or main character in some type of way. However, in the Brothers Grimm “The Juniper Tree” the bird is the hero and main character. The bird represents the brother who was killed by his stepmother. After his bones are collected and brought to a tree, the bones disappear and a bird emerges from the tree. It is implied that this bird is the brother reincarnated. At the end of the story, the bird kills the stepmother by dropping a millstone on her. Afterwards in that same spot, the bird vanished and the brother appeared. The brother, who was main character, did not need assistance from another bird. He was able to help himself since he was also a bird.
The Brother and the Bird by Alissa Nutting
In the contemporary retelling of The Juniper Tree birds are used as a source of magic in the plot. The birds in this story rebuild the dead boys body after his step mother has killed him, using their beaks to sew the body back together. Birds only appear in this tale when something that requires magic to be solved occurs, like bringing the boy back from the dead and killing the stepmother. These birds seem to be a representation of the first mother instead of the boy as they are in the original work.
Three Little Birds by Bob Marley
Bob Marley is a famous musician who was a committed rastafarian. His song “Three Little Birds” also often remember by the chorus “Every Little Thing” or “Don’t Worry”, play into his fascination about birds and his spiritual ideas of birds being a way of passage for him to return home spiritually. Three Little Birds was often played as an encore to send many people home with a great message that no matter what is going on everything would be alright. This has a connection with fairy tales because in fairy tales the birds help the hero or heroine through their problems and in the song it’s stating that everything will be alright if we don’t worry.
