Jealousy at its Best In today’s society, I am certain that most people have not grown old without having watched the tale Snow White. In fact, this Disney tale has been around for many ages, and it is personally one of my all-time favorite fairytales. For many generations, this story has been told throughout many ages to youth all across America. As I have watched and read this fairytale, I have left with a different life lesson from the story. As a matter of fact, there are messages within this story that I believe that are often missed.
To explain, in most fairytales, the underlying themes are usually interpreted as the reader reads between the lines. In this particular fairytale, it is apparent that there is a power struggle between the Snow White and her stepmother named Queen. In fact, their relationship exemplified how a person can be envious of another person’s physical beauty and material possessions. In this essay, I aim to evoke the theme of jealously and how material possessions can lead to their own downfall as well as the harm of others.
After reading the story of SnowWhite, I noted that jealousy is a huge factor especially with Snow White and the Queen’s relationship. As a matter of fact, each day, the queen used her “magic mirror” to inquire who was the most beautiful person in the kingdom. Indeed, her motives were to degrade the beauty of Snow White as well as maintain power in the kingdom. Her actions of this daily ritual were a clear indicator that she was envious of Snow White’s beauty.
When looking in the mirror, she would always say, “Looking-glass upon the wall, who is the fairest of us all? In doing so, she thought the mirror would tell her that she was the most beautiful person in the kingdom each time. Although the queen usually was the first person to gaze in the mirror each day, Snow White beat her to mirror one day. As a result, the queen was very upset. The queen’s jealously towards Snow White was evident throughout the actions; therefore, being jealous can lead a person to do dangerous things to another person. The jealously that the Queen had against Snow White lead to the potential downfall and harm of Snow White.
As an example, when Snow White beat the Queen to the mirror, the queen was angered much. As result of the Queen being upset, she quickly ordered the death of Snow White. In determining this crucial execution of Snow White, the Queen was simply envious of Snow White’s beauty. Based on this fairytale, Snow White’s beauty was a prized possession. It even signaled a source of power which explains why the queen was persistent in having power displayed through beauty. Consequently, killing Snow White would result in the Queen maintaining this power.
Likewise, the stepmother was very obsessed with power as well. As a matter of fact, she longed to be the center of attention throughout the story. Her jealously of Snow White had her feeling as if Snow White would represent the kingdom as the most beautiful one of them all. Furthermore, the Queen believed that Snow White’s beauty would strip her out of her power. In like manner, the queen continued to plot the downfall of Snow White. In fact, she does so by disguising herself as a peddler woman to trick Snow White into eating a poisoned apple.
This action by queen caused Snow White to drift into deathlike sleep. Throughout this story, the queen’s jealously of Snow White lead to her to eventually killing her so she thought. Indeed, jealousy is not a beautiful trait to possess. Being jealous of another person regardless of the reason will drive a person to do the unthinkable in order to destroy another person. As a matter of fact, being jealous causes a person to treat a person unfairly, to use cruelty to denounce one’s power and good traits as well as to being extremely careless of one’s feelings.
From personal experience, when you are jealous of another person, it makes you become very angry inside to see that person maneuver throughout society. In terms of this story, Snow White was an innocent, humble person who did not deserve to be treated with death. It is unfortunate that Queen did not take time to recognize her individual beauty. Because she did not focus on the good in herself when she looked in the “magic mirror”, it showed her lack of confidence as a woman and as a human being. Part II: The Story Once upon a time, there was a kid named Jake.
Jake was a 5th grader at Happy Elementary School located in rural parts of southern Mississippi. Jake truly loved going to school. Although Jake did not have running water at home or the best clothes to wear, he always set his timer the night before on his watch to help him rise up in time to be at school before the tardy bell sounded. When Jake got to school, the first thing he would was visit the principal. After all, the principal supported his family a lot by giving them food and other goods to help them survive as a family.
Then, he would go to visit to the janitor, Mr. Tom, to see if he could help him with anything each day. Jake had a heart of compassion for helping people because he realized that someone helped him one day. Jake, unlike most children his age, struggled to make friends. It seemed that the majority of his classmates did not want to utter anything nice to him, play with him, or even sit by him in class. After the students rendered the pledge of allegiance, Mrs. Potts began to start class by going over the morning board with the class. When she asked for volunteers to come to the board to help, Jake, one of several students offered to participate.
When Jake raised his hand, Cole stared with disgust on face at the holes in Jake’s shirt. He looked over at Janie and stated: “Why does he always wear clothes with holes in them? ” They both laughed hysterically at the question and at what they observed. Jake continued to engage in the lesson and participate as Mrs. Potts wanted him to. Now, when it was time to go to recess on the playground, Jake usually would go off and play by himself. He would spend this time as one of the happiest people by building things out of limbs, playing in the sand, or simply admiring the beauty of the sunshine.
Although Jake noticed that his classmates chose not to play with him, he never sought why; instead, he created his own fun for himself. Mike and Tony played with him occasionally but they were not consistent with playing with him. Considering Jake’s background, he was a very bright kid. He always earned honor roll each term, and he was always favored with the Principal’s Award every year. No one truly understood how Jake could maintain so much happiness and ignore what others typically said about him. But he would reflect on everything when he walked home from school everyday.
In fact, he would think about what jokes his classmates made about him and instantly start weeping. He would cry so hard and loud until his eyes were red like fire and his throat was parched like he have not taken a sip of water in some time. He felt helpless, alone, and confused. He often asked himself, “Am I not good enough to have friends? ” “Why are people so mean to me? ” Before he got home, he would always dry his face as if nothing ever happened. Now after three weeks had elapsed, there were no signs of Jake attending school.
This was an extreme alarm to the principal and the janitor since they were so use to seeing him every morning. The students in Mrs. Pott’s classroom noticed that he was not at school so they inquired about him as well. Instead of Jake coming to school, he would hang out in the field to talk and play with the farm animals that belonged to Mr. Billy. Mr. Billy did not mind Jake stopping by considering that he was well-known for being a great help in whatever capacity he was needed. Meanwhile, Jake’s mother was informed of him missing school for the past three weeks by the principal.
Although she was furious, she knew something was wrong. When Jake came home, she asked him, “Why haven’t you been you going to school young man? ” With a startled look, he broke out in tears proclaiming,” I don’t have any friends. I try to be nice to everyone but they don’t seem to like me. They talk about my clothes and they talk about how I smell. I can’t win for losing in that place, Mama. ” She begin to explain to him that not everyone would like him and not everyone will like him because of how you smell, but how you feel about yourself defines true happiness.
After hearing wind that Jake might be returning to school, his classmates thought they could be much nicer to him. They made him cards and they were willing to share their snacks at recess. When he arrived back at school, he was presented with “Most Happiest Student” Award, and he was showered with an abundance of love. Jake wept, but he was truly happy to be surrounded by people who were willing to be his friends. Works Cited Page: “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. ” IMDb. IMDb. com, n. d. Web. 18 Apr. 2016.