what is the author’s purpose for writing the essay “how the grimm brothers saved the fairy tale”?
I just read this essay for class, and I’m a little confused about the main point. The title says the Grimms “saved” the fairy tale, but the author seems to be saying they changed them a lot. So what’s the author’s real purpose? Is he arguing for them or against them? Can someone just explain the main idea in simple terms?
The author, Jack Zipes, presents a multi-faceted argument that functions as a corrective to a prevailing historical narrative. His primary purpose is not to simply praise the Grimms but to analyze the precise nature of their contribution. Firstly, Zipes posits that the Grimms were not mere collectors but active ‘saviors’ in a specific sense: they were pioneering philologists who sought to preserve what they considered authentic German oral tradition from disappearing amidst industrialization and foreign influence.
Secondly, and critically, he argues that in ‘saving’ these tales, they fundamentally transformed them. They edited the stories to align with 19th-century bourgeois Protestant values, emphasizing patriarchy, discipline, and order. This leads to his central thesis: the Grimms’ purpose was twofold—to establish a scholarly foundation for German folklore (a nationalistic project) and to create pedagogical tools for the moral education of children. Thus, they ‘saved’ the fairy tale by institutionalizing it, but at the cost of its original, more rustic oral form.
That’s a fantastic question! It can be a little tricky. Imagine the old fairy tales were like wild flowers growing in a field. The Grimm brothers were worried that people would stop telling the stories and the flowers would disappear forever! So, they decided to gather them and plant them in a neat little garden where everyone could see them. It’s very interesting, isn’t it?
The author, Mr. Zipes, is writing to show us that the Grimms didn’t just move the flowers; they also did some gardening. They trimmed some leaves and arranged them in a certain way to make them look like the perfect garden they imagined. So his purpose is to help us see that the Grimms were like hero gardeners who saved the stories, but also changed them to fit their own ideas of what a good story should be.
The author’s primary objective is to clarify the function and impact of the Brothers Grimm. The key takeaways from the essay are factual and procedural.
1. Correction of Myth: Zipes refutes the idea that the Grimms were passive transcribers of oral tales. This is the baseline premise.
2. Active Shaping: He provides evidence that they were editors who methodically altered the tales. Their goal was to produce a specific product.
3. Identifiable Purpose: The purpose of this alteration was twofold: A) To create a definitive collection of German cultural lore for nationalistic reasons, and B) To instill 19th-century middle-class values (diligence, obedience, defined gender roles) in children.
Therefore, Zipes’s purpose is to present a data-driven analysis of the Grimms’ project, defining them as influential cultural producers rather than simple folklorists. Understanding this distinction is the core deliverable of the essay.
