Grimm's Fairy Tales: Unabridged

A friend recently gave me her copy of Grimm's Fairy Tales: Unabridged Version. When I read it, it seemed, at first to be just a book of all those fairy tales we have all read a million times before, but then, it surprised me by being very different. I could see our fairy tales in these ones, but they were changed, spread out between several stories. Different details were added, even different endings all together. Plus, all the stories were extremely bloody. Almost every story had it's fair share of gore and death. It made me realize why fairy tales were made in the first place. They were made to teach lessons. Use common sense, be kind and courteous to those you meet, but don't place too much trust in strangers, for only fools do, as it can often be a trick, or not completely selfless in it's nature. These days, almost every fairy tale has a very different lesson. There is always a happy ending, the hero will always succeed, the princess will always get the man, don't trust old and ugly people because they are obviously a witch or monster in disguise. Some lessons are still there, but they've changed. Instead of light easy fairy tales with happy endings, these old. gory fairy tales tell the hard truth and drive it in, teaching children the lesson they need to know. We also have to keep in mind the time period. In this time, death and blood and hardship were part of everyday life. Animals could talk because at times, humans were nearly animals. People had to work or were cast out of their homes at a young age, many of the people in these stories being any where from 6 to 16. It is because these stories had plausibility then that they made an impact. Now they just seem fictional. These things would never happen now. There are no more unexplored corners of the earth, no endless seas, unclimbable mountains or dark, dense woods in which the witch lives. There are no abandoned castles with piles of treasure, nor are there talking animals (or possibly enchanted royalty.) All the mistique of the world is gone, yet these fairy tales are still alive from times when all that was still here.