“Godfather Death” by Jakob and Wilhelm Grimm was written in 1812. This is a fairy tale in which a poor man which is unable to feed his thirteenth son comes to a conclusion that his son must have a godfather to take care of him. The poor man denies the good Lord and the Devil but accepts Death to become the godfather. Years later the son becomes a doctor and death decides to helps him become a successful doctor, showing his godson a special herb. However, Death warns the doctor not to take any of his “clients” away or he would pay a price. Long story short, the doctor breaks the rules twice after being warned the first time and death takes his own godsons’ life away.
This short story may lack the sense of reality but fairy tales usually do. I like this because of the ending. That Death actually sacrificed his own godson because he broke the rules. Death had no sympathy what so ever about him. However, I do not really think Death would be the kind of man that would be sympathetic towards anyone. But in my opinion, the doctor had it coming. He should have known better than to cheat death. Many fairy tales have surprising endings that always seem to have a bitter fairness to the conclusion. Such as, the doctor cheated death yet in the end death got him. Or in the Grimms fairy tale of “Cinderella” where Cinderella lives happily ever after while her two stepsisters get turned into aspen trees. It’s important to have a surprising ending. It makes the reader appreciate them more.
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