Hansel And Gretel Research Paper

Generally, serial killers can be defined as individuals who have “confirmed involvement in three or more forensically linked murders committed as discrete events by this same person(s) over an extended period of time, where the primary motive is personal gratification,” (Krueger 4). However, each has a specific “signature,” or “ritual,” that is present in each crime they commit, typically a compulsion of some kind, that allows the killer to gain the gratification they desperately want from their kills (Ramsland np). Based on the presence of such rituals evident in the crime scenes, profilers are able to classify each killer more specifically and generalize their displayed habits in a “criminal profile” (Krueger 32). The witch within “Hansel and Gretel” could arguably be defined as a serial killer under these constraints. Within her ritual-esque taking in, torturing, and plan to consume young children, a “signature” is seemingly developed.

Torture. Kill. Cook. Eat. Repeat. This is the pattern that the witch within “Hansel and Gretel” followed as a killer. She specifically targeted young children, purposely inflicted agony on them, and ate them. Based on these habits, she should be classified as a kinder-cannibalistic serial killer with sadistic impulses. Her habit of luring children into her home through deceptive kindness also relates her to the real life serial killer Friedrich Haarmann. However, a larger part of her characterization is based on another serial killer: Enriqueta Martí, with whom she shares many more similarities. However, all brought considerable fear to their respective victims. “Hansel and Gretel” is a story of great horror as the children are unaware of their fate while at the mercy of the witch. Yet many take comfort in the fact that it is only a work of fiction. They would be frightened to know that, although it is a work of fiction, serial killers, many with habits similar to those of the witch, are actually quite common.