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My Favorite Characters

Two of my favorite characters in world literature are James Marshall's Hansel and Gretel.

These two are crafty and resilient. Their greedy stepmother wants to kill them. Do the two kids give up? They do not. They use pebbles to find their way home. When Stepmom tries again, H and G use bread crumbs. When squirrels eat the bread crumbs, and when an evil witch intervenes, H and G persist. G decodes the witch's plot, uses her wiles, distracts the witch, saves her brother, and roasts her nemesis. Just constant badass-ery--start to finish.

James Marshall--a gay man--seemed especially interested in subtext, secrets meanings, codes. Continuously, in "Hansel and Gretel," people are saying what they don't quite mean. "Come, little children, let's take a walk" -- in fact means, Your days are numbered. "Father, I'm just looking at my pigeon" -- in fact means, I'm checking on my own plot so that I don't get f**ed over. "You need to eat a good meal" -- in fact means, Get fat so I can feast on you.

 There are some simple morals here. Greed is a generally bad thing. Scrappiness learned at home can translate to scrappiness in the big, bad world. (We don't see Gretel despairing. She just stretches her brain; she does what she needs to do, over and over.)

I love the relentless sense of suspense, and I love the small touches Marshall adds. Would a trail of bread crumbs really work? Marshall is right to be skeptical; after all, squirrels get hungry. Could the witch show a passing resemblance to the greedy stepmom? Why not? There's a *thematic* resemblance here, at the least, and you might as well underline that with your choice of drawings.

This story makes me think of "Miss Nelson Is Missing," a kind of cousin to "Hansel and Gretel." Marshall didn't write "Miss Nelson," but he did the illustrations, and Viola Swamp has more than a passing resemblance to the Witch in the Candy House. In both stories--additionally--an interest in subtext prevails. These are stories about reinvention; using your brain; telling small lies to get by. Heady stuff for a little kid.

Marshall sometimes gets pinned down; he is the guy who made up George and Martha. Fair enough, but let's not overlook H and G. Food for thought.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OnaYxXDBfRg
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