A Tale Dark and Grimm

“I am well aware that nobody wants to hear a story that happens before the main characters show up. Stories like that are boring, because they all end exactly the same way. With the main characters showing up.”

These lines, at the opening of the novel, are one of the narrator’s many interjections. They call attention to storytelling and establish how the narrator will interject comedic asides.

Modern writing advice claims that stories should begin with the main character and minimize backstory to keep the interest of readers, something Gidwitz subverts by having almost the entire first chapter pass before Hansel and Gretel enter the story. This passage lets the reader know that this story is going to be different and explore Hansel and Gretel’s tale in a new way.

“Maybe you know something about young people, and maybe you don’t. I, having been one myself once upon a time, know a few things about them. One thing I know is that if you don’t want one to do something—for example, go into a room where there’s a portrait of an unbearably beautiful princess—saying ‘It might cost you your life’ is about the worst thing you could possibly say. Because then that’s all that young person will want to do.”

The narrator comically interjects after Johannes tells the new king that entering the room with the golden princess’s portrait might result in his death. This passage comments on both youth and fairy tales. The narrator notes that telling a young person not to do something is an almost foolproof way to make them want to do it, showing how a quality may be both a strength and weakness. The narrator suggests that younger people tend to be staunchly stubborn in pursuing what they want. They get results, but advice may not always be heeded. These lines show how simple plot devices—such as an older character telling a younger character what to do—are used to jumpstart plot and conflict.