The Snow Queen, Parts 5, 6, and 7

Winter is beautiful, but so cold.

Salutations, readers. This week, we'll finish up the story of The Snow Queen with parts 5, 6, and 7. This is the longest story we've looked at together, so I applaud you for making it all the way through. If you haven't read the previous parts, or if you don't remember them, the entire story is at the link above. Give it a read and come back to analyze it with me.

What is going on with that robber girl? At the end of the story, Gerda is happy to see her, but I wouldn't be. The robber girl threatened to kill Gerda twice. Maybe that's just how the robber girl talks, but it would worry me. Especially since she sleeps with that big knife. Anyway, I suppose the robber girl was decent. She did let Gerda and the reindeer go so Gerda could go find Kay. But she's definitely not a safe ally to have around.

I'm intrigued by the Lapland woman and the Finland woman. Clearly, they know each other well. I feel like in other stories like this, they would be sisters, but we're never told how they know each other. But they are both women of power. And we see that Gerda is also a woman of power. Like I've been pointing out, the Finland woman saw that everyone around Gerda was driven to help her. Although the Finland woman had magic at her command, there was nothing more powerful than she could give to Gerda than Gerda's purity and innocence of heart. I feel like that's a power that often gets undervalued.

Sure, Gerda's had some trouble on her journey, but everyone has seen that she's good and they want to make her happy. Even when that old woman who kidnapped her in the beginning of Gerda's journey just wanted Gerda to stay with her. When Gerda remembered who she was and what she was doing, it was easy enough for her to run away and to the next creature who would help her. And the old woman never came after her to get Gerda back. There is a power in kindness that is easy to overlook because we see it as something easy that everyone can do, but not everyone does. We see it in how Gerda asks about the crows, the princess and the prince when she sees the robber girl again, and how Gerda welcomes the robber girl, even though she did steal from Gerda. And, most of all, we see it in Gerda's entire journey to help Kay. She could have stopped looking for him, but she never did. And that is why she was able to help him when, arguably, no one else could have.

This innocence and purity of heart is more powerful than the Snow Queen could ever be, and that is what Hans Christian Andersen wants his readers to remember. Even when Kay lost himself and forgot who he was, Gerda kept looking for him, and didn't forget completely, even after a spell had been cast on her. I started looking at this story now because it's a good winter story (and it ends with spring, as every good winter story should), but it's more timely than I realized. Who knew a story from 1845 could still be teaching us things in 2021?

The moral of this story is, if you get mixed up in some bad things, make sure you have a good friend who will fight to get you back. Alternatively, if you're offered the world and a pair of skates, sometimes it's better to take your own corner of the world instead.

...but really. The whole world and a new pair of skates? Wouldn't skates be included in "the whole world"?

Have a different moral? Intrigued by the overwhelming number of strong women in this story? Wondering what Kay and Gerda's parents/grandparents thought when they finally came home? Comment below! And don't forget to subscribe if you like what you're reading.