The Christian Worldview in “Godfather Death” The fairy tale “Godfather Death” is an anonymous fairy tale that was transmitted orally, probably for centuries, and eventually written down by Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm. Notoriously known as “the Brothers Grimm,” they travelled around the German countryside and had peasants recite their folk tales to them. They then wrote the stories down and published them to preserve them for posterity. If the Grimm Brothers had not taken this initiative, “Godfather Death” would have been lost forever since the oral tradition was fast dying out in modern industrial civilization. The extremes of wealth and poverty present in the fairy tale hint at its probable medieval origin. In the story, a disparity in wealth …show more content…
To conclude, the likely medieval origin of "Godfather Death" is most effectively illustrated by its Christian perspective, which is seen mostly in the initial section of the narrative where the impoverished man searches for a godfather for his newly born son. The unknown author represents a scale of Christian moral standards with two characters in the story: God and the Devil. He then harshly judges the impoverished guy, putting him far closer to the Devil than to God on the scale. Thus, just as the author himself judges the poor man and places him near the devil on the scale, the author expects his readers to judge the godson and place him near the Devil as well. In fact, the godson’s behavior is motivated by pride, greed, and lust, three deadly sins. Hence, the godson is also closer to the Devil than to God since he is sinful and therefore evil. In the folk tale, Death makes a promise that he will make the poor man’s son “rich and famous” …show more content…
The godson gave the king some of the herb to save him, even though Death was standing at his feet, meaning that he was supposed to die. Why did the doctor do that? The king was the richest man in the realm; hence, if the doctor saved him, he would make the godson rich. However, the doctor was already rich; hence, he did not actually need to save him. Therefore, he was greedy; he wanted more wealth even though he was already wealthy. Thus, he committed one of the seven deadly sins: greed. Furthermore, saving the king would bring him more popularity. He wanted to be even more famous than he already was; his current popularity was not enough for him, which is yet again a proof of greed but also of pride, another deadly sin. Moreover, the godson cheats death a second time when he gives the herb to the king’s daughter, despite Death standing by her feet: “He should have remembered his godfather’s warning, but the princess’s great beauty and the happy prospect of becoming her husband so infatuated him that he flung all caution to the wind”
“A&P” and “Godfather Death” are stories that fall under two different categories in reading. While “A&P” is a short story and “Godfather Death” is a folktale, it is clear that there are differences between the two stories. Despite their differences, there are some similarities shown through the protagonists of each story. Sammy, the protagonist of “A&P”, is an all-around character who is close to his family but makes poor decisions. The godson, the protagonist of “Godfather Death”, is also an all-around character and loves his job but takes advantage of his godfather, Death. Although Sammy and the godson are the protagonist in each story, they have differences regarding their work ethic and heroism, but they also share a few similar personalities.
Snow-White is arguably one of the most well-known and revered fairy tales of all time. Versions of it permeate almost every culture, or at least can be recognized by most cultures throughout the world. It has been adopted into film, with later spin-offs and adaptations occurring in recent years. There is certainly some deeper appeal to it, hence its popularity throughout time. Some may find it hard to accept that a portion of its appeal could be due, in part, to the tale’s Christian roots.
According to the 2015 National Gang Report (NGR) from the National Gang Intelligence Center (NGIC) almost half of law enforcement juristictions across the United States reported a rise in street gang membership and street gang activitiy. My communitty is no exception.
A fairy tale is seemingly a moral fiction, intended mainly for children. A lesson in critical analysis, however, strips this guise and reveals the naked truth beneath; fairy tales are actually vicious, logical and sexual stories wearing a mask of deceptively easy language and an apparent moral. Two 19th Century writers, the Grimm brothers, were masters at writing these exaggerated stories, bewitching young readers with their prose while padding their stories with allusion and reference: an example of which is "Rapunzel." Grimm's "Rapunzel" is packed with religious symbolism, which lends a new insight to the meaning of this classic story.
I believe the reason that, 'The Godfather', is such a great film is because it lets audiences decide whether they like the characters or not. Too many movies made about organized crime begin with some seemingly random act of violence. 'The Godfather', however, lets it be known from the start to judge the characters in the film based on what type of person they are instead of the criminal activities they may engage in.
Fairy tales portray wonderful, elaborate, and colorful worlds as well as chilling, frightening, dark worlds in which ugly beasts are transformed into princes and evil persons are turned to stones and good persons back to flesh (Guroian). Fairytales have long been a part of our world and have taken several forms ranging from simple bedtime stories to intricate plays, musicals, and movies. However, these seemingly simple stories are about much more than pixie dust and poisoned apples. One could compare fairytales to the new Chef Boyardee; Chef Boyardee hides vegetables in its ravioli while fairytales hide society’s morals and many life lessons in these outwardly simple children stories. Because of this fairytales have long been instruments used to instruct children on the morals of their culture. They use stories to teach children that the rude and cruel do not succeed in life in the long run. They teach children that they should strive to be kind, caring, and giving like the longsuffering protagonists of the fairytale stories. Also, they teach that good does ultimately defeat evil. Fairy tales are not just simple bedtime stories; they have long been introducing cultural moral values into young children.
The Godfather is the “dark-side of the American dream story” (Turan, pp2). The film follows the practices of a fictional Italian mafia family, the Corleone’s. Though most Americans do not condone the practices of the Italian mafia, they cannot deny that Francis Ford Coppola’s The Godfather is a cinematic masterpiece. This film gave insight to a mysterious way of life that the average person does not have knowledge of. As the audience is educated about the mafia they also are introduced to many stereotypes.
During the 19th century, Grimm’s fairytales were strongly disapproved of due to harsh, gruesome details and plots. One American educator from 1885 stated, “The folktales mirror all too loyally the entire medieval worldview and culture with all its stark prejudice, its crudeness and barbarities.” As childre...
In the fairy tale “Godfather Death” contained in the book Grimm’s Tale for Young and Old: The Complete Stories as translated by Ralph Manheim, the central theme is betrayal. The apparent betrayals take place seven times in the course of a man’s life, mainly for personal gain. Each person doing the deceiving, whether for the good of the family or kingdom, truthfully ends up lying to others in order to gain something of significant value. In the end, a father deceives his son twice, the son deceives his royal family and his own godfather twice and the godfather deceives his godson once.
People have many different dreams, and many different ingredients for happiness. Some people relay on love, others lean towards money, it may be achieved through money, relationships, or even the misfortune of others, but why does power have the persuasion to change a person and what drives them to gain more?
Most modern fairytales are expected to have happy endings and be appropriate for children, nonetheless, in past centuries most were gruesome. Consequently, fairytales have been modified throughout time. The stories “Beauty and the Beast” by Jeanne-Marie LePrince de Beaumont and “The Summer and Winter Garden” by Jacob and Wilherm Grimm share similarities and differences. The two stories are distinct because of the peculiar year they have been written in. LePrince de Beaumont’s story is written in London of 1783 and Grimm’s in Germany of 1812. At the time, wealthy people in London, were educated and had nannies who would read to their children; whereas, in Germany, the Grimm brothers created their own interpretation into a short story. Because many high class parents in 18th century London would not be able to spend time with their children, nannies would read “Beauty and the Beast” to them since they were intended for children and considered appropriate. In “The Summer and Winter Garden,” the Grimm’s’ story was mostly based to entertain misbehaved children and teach them the valuable lesson that everyone should be treated with kindness. The Grimm brothers’ goal in rewriting this short story is to better children’s behavior which worked quite well. Since these stories have been re-written for children, it would be safe to say the reason why parents expose the two stories to their children is because they both portray the same moral: good things happen to good people. The two interpretations of “Beauty and the Beast,” although written in separate countries, share important similarities and differences even though the authors have different interpretations and came from different cultures.
The Godfather is most notably one of the most prolific films of its time. This "gangster" film displayed many transformations of permeating color to give the viewer observable cues in its mise en scene that drew one right into the movie. The dramatic acting set the tone of the film with a score that lifted the viewer right out of their seat in many scenes. The directing and cinematography made The Godfather ahead of its time. The nostalgic feel of family importance and the danger of revenge lets us into the life of the Mafia. Even though no other techniques would have given the viewer a feeling of inside the mob like the mise en scene of the power the godfather held, the characters are reinforced literally and figuratively because the story views the Mafia from the inside out, and the cinematography of the film gives it a dangerous and nostalgic feel.
Jesus Christ’s life and mission, which is now present worldwide, is the origin of the Roman Catholicism. Catholics believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God who became man, died and rose from the dead to redeem humanity from sin (Catholic Truth Society, 3). He passed his mission of salvation to the Catholic Church through his apostles and then their successors (Catholic Truth Society, 4).
The Godfather Death is a story about choice and perception, how a man view the powers of the world, whether they were good, bad, or considered to be neutral.
CRITICAL ANALYSIS ON "GODFATHER DEATH", A FAIRY TALE WRITTEN BY JACOB LUDWIG GRIMM AND WILHELM CARL GRIMM