Reading the Brothers Grimm to Jenny by: Lisel Mueller

Jenny, your mind commands
kingdoms of black and white:
you shoulder the crow on your left,
the snowbird on your right;
for you the cinders part
and let the lentils through,
and noise falls into place
as screech or sweet roo-coo,
while in my own, real, world
gray foxes and gray wolves
bargain eye to eye,
and the amazing dove
takes shelter under the wing
of the raven to keep dry.

Knowing that you must climb,
one day, the ancient tower
where disenchantment binds
the curls of innocence,
that you must live with power
and honor circumstance,
that choice is what comes true–
oh, Jenny, pure in heart,
why do I lie to you?

Why do I read you tales
in which birds speak the truth
and pity cures the blind,
and beauty reaches deep
to prove a royal mind?
Death is a small mistake
there, where the kiss revives;
Jenny, we make just dreams
out of our unjust lives.

Still, when your truthful eyes,
your keen, attentive stare,
endow the vacuous slut
with royalty, when you match
her soul to her shimmering hair,
what can she do but rise
to your imagined throne?
And what can I, but see
beyond the world that is,
when, faithful, you insist
I have the golden key–
and learn from you once more                                                                                                                                                                                                             the terror and the bliss,                                                                                                                                                                                                                     the world as it might be?

The stories we are told as children only lie to us, hiding us from the dark truths of the real world; however, they also teach us about hope and how to recognize the good in the bad. I feel that the basis of Reading Brother’s Grimm to Jenny is the difference between reality and idealism and how both are an equally important part of our daily lives. The author, Lisel Mueller, explores the idea of dark and light, evil and good, reality and fantasy using the Brothers Grimm’s stories and everyday life. In the poem a mother reads basic fairy tales to her daughter while also questioning the basis of these misleading stories. She is torn between protecting her daughter’s innocence and preparing her for the real world.

Lisel begins to reveal the concept of the differences between the real world and the world of Disney princesses very early into the poem. “You shoulder the crow on your left, / the snowbird on your right (lines 3-4). This reminds me of the moral dilemma (devil vs. angle) that is often seen in T.V shows or movies. The author replaced the common devil and angel with a crow and snowbird; the real world as the crow, dark and evil, and the snowbird as the world we believe in as children due to fairy tales. Both an important and equal part in our lives: the snowbird giving us hope to face the crow who is constantly reminding us what the world really is. Birds are usually a symbol for freedom and I believe the poet is telling her daughter that she has the freedom to choose whether she wants to embrace the light or the dark of the world.

Mueller further continues the idea of choice in lines 7-8. “And noise falls into place/ as a screech or a sweet roo-coo”. This reminds me of the glass half empty or half full example usually given to differentiate the optimists from pessimists. Most of the world emanates its pain at you, however there are some parts that are more innocent and sweet. You can choose to ignore either or, but in the end it is better to embrace a mixture of both.

The speaker continues to talk about the mixture of the dark and the light and its role in our adult lives. “While in my own, real, world/ gray foxes and gray wolves/ bargain eye to eye,” (lines 9-11). She explains that in her world, the adult world, there is a mix of both the dark and the light: making gray, both equally important. Foxes are cunning and wolves are devouring both of which bargain with the lives of others. This can also be related to the grey haired business people and politicians who, in order to make money and therefore gain power, turn to cunning tactics and are willing to devour the dreams of others in order to achieve theirs. This comparison itself is a suggestion of reality vs. idealism. Foxes and wolves more being a part of stories and tales and businessmen/woman being a part of the real world.

Often we forget to look for the good in the strict, and unforgiving world and it takes something we love or care for to open our eyes once again. “And the amazing dove/ takes shelter under the wing/ of the raven to keep dry” (lines 12-14). This evokes an image of an older, more experienced bird providing shelter to an innocent, younger, child-like bird in my mind. I feel like this also shows how when we are younger we are innocent and overall good; as we grow older we are marked with the pains of others along with our own which slowly influences us with a darker view on life and eventually turning us dark like the raven. Until of course something comes along and opens our eyes whether it’s a child, passion, or goal which is symbolized through the white, innocent, and pure dove. Jenny, the speaker’s child is the dove and Lisel is the raven protecting her with the stories of fairies and princesses in order to keep the hope in her child alive.

The speaker wants to protect her child from the reality of our world but simultaneously burdens herself for lying to her daughter. “Oh, Jenny, pure in heart, / why do I lie to you?”(Line22-23). In this verse the speaker asks herself why she is lying to her child. She believes that she needs to protect Jenny, who is pure and innocent in heart, but also believes that she is wronging her by not telling her the truth. Similarly parents around the world lie to their children about Santa or the Easter bunny in order to bring joy to them. Fairy tales are about hope and happy endings. Hope and happy endings, however, are only an ideal which, evidently, means that the speaker had to lie to her daughter. The speaker uses lies which are, presumably, dark and evil to protect the light and innocence in her child. This brings me back to the concept of the mixture of the light and dark, the grey, which we saw previously. This also exemplifies how we use both mediums in our lives on a daily basis.

The lands we are told about as children consist of very little darkness. With so little darkness the light overpowers and leaves no room for human error and mistakes. No one, however can prevent the inevitable regulations of Mother Nature. “Death is a small mistake/ there, where the kiss revives” (line29-30).  Death: one of the most feared realities that we all have to face. If something as simple as a kiss can undo it then there is nothing to fear, as most fears revolve around the underlying consequence of death. The way the poet called death a mistake tells me that she’s trying to say that the world of tales comes with little consequences for mistakes which is unrealistic. In reality we teach our children that everything comes with a consequence and we must take responsibility for our mistakes. In fairy tales the characters don’t make a lot of mistakes leading our children to believe that it is the same in the real world.

The last few concluding lines bring back all the major concepts such as choice, and importance of both evil and good. “I have the golden key–/ and learn from you once more/ the terror and the bliss, / the world as it might be?” (Lines43-46). The golden key was used to bring back the concept of choice, as keys are usually a symbol for choice. This shows that the speaker has a choice on whether she wants to unlock darkness behind one door or light behind the other. The next two lines, I feel, bring back the dove and raven, child and mother; the idea of a child bringing back the light in a parent’s life which was once filled with darkness. Making the parent’s life a grey mixture of both. Lisel Mueller begins the poem with a question to herself. She asks herself why she lies to her daughter and gives her unrealistic hopes of the twisted reality ahead. In the end she eventually answers the question herself. She reads the tales to her daughter in order to provide hope to her the same way her daughter provided for her. In the end she realizes that the tales are to her daughter what her daughter is to her; hope.

The idea of light and dark throughout the piece itself shows how deeply fairy tales are ingrained in our lives. Any story you’ve ever witnessed always perceives the dark as evil and cunning making the light symbolize freedom, goodness, and innocence. This is not only affected us in the sense of colours but also body images. If you think about it in all the Disney movies the princesses, the good and innocent, are always ‘pretty’ and the evil is always ‘ugly’. This is teaching our future citizens all the wrong lessons by not only damaging their self-esteem but also prepping them to judge each other based on appearance. These stories, however misleading, can also benefit the youth in many different ways. One thing you can take from Disney stories is that you should always follow the path of truth. They provide us with the hope of a happy ending and tell us to follow our hearts. All in all I feel that these stories are what develop our youth. They may be misleading and unrealistic but they also help us detect the meager amounts of happiness and innocence in our sad, twisted realities. They are the memories we carry in to our adult lives that help us find the light in our grey world.