"The Juniper Tree" is rather unusual in that the brother transforms posthumously into another living being and only with the death of the one who made it happen is he able to regain life in his original human form. Unlike the other tales in which multiple brothers (who are alive) change into swans or ravens with only their sister's sacrifices having the ability to bring them back, the transformation in "The Juniper Tree" is akin to reincarnation, and the (step)sister makes very little sacrifice other than giving her dead brother a proper burial.
This raises some troubling concerns when you ask whether he is more of a bird or more of a person, for can he be either if he is dead? His human to animal to human transformation might be, instead, a way of looking at death/afterlife. The very fact that the bird sings a song with uniquely human lyrics (my mother, she slew me / my father, he ate me) and that the bird plots vengeance against his stepmother supports the supposition that the brother remains human in his animal state. The bird, from this reading, becomes a sort of ghost-like presence, haunting his stepmother and rewarding his sister to represent his incompleteness with the people in his former life.
Perhaps I'm stretching this too far, but if we continue along this thread, the death/murder of the stepmother rights the wrong and completes the revenge cycle, enabling the bird to return to his human state... or perhaps move from the world/purgatory and into his heaven which contains his kind stepsister and father. Just a theory, and a bit of a stretch.
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Nicole, I was thinking exactly these thoughts right before reading your comment. It's like your response stole the ideas right out of my head. I very much see the Bird as the brother's soul, which has been confined to that form because of lasting injustice in the human realm. After the bird is able to "right the wrong" in the human realm, he has completed his task and is able to move on. The sitting at dinner is pronounced and can be seen as a symbol of return to perfection.
ReplyDeleteNicole,
ReplyDeleteWhile I think you make a good figurative analysis of the story, I think you need to remember that this is a fairy tale where magic is prevalent. In the other stories, the characters physically transform, it is not a figurative representation of their souls. It is a story where magic has no limits, so transformations of the physical kind of normal, and do not need to be explained figuratively, although this story COULD have a double figurative/literal analysis. However, while it may represent his soul, I also think that it is possible that he is physically a bird, and that the bird is not just a symbol of his soul.
Anyways, I enjoyed reading your post.
Nicole,
ReplyDeleteI think that you brought up a good point on whether or not it's even a question of whether or not the bird has more human or animal qualities since he's supposed to be dead. Unlike the other bird transformation stories, the sister only really mourns and weeps over her brother's unfortunate demise. Perhaps the Grimms/ the storyteller to the Grimms made this particular distinction between the siblings and the brotherly enchantment because they're not bound by blood, where these other stories do. I also believe this was a good way for the Brothers to explore the idea of reincarnation without deserting their Protestant values.