If there is one message present in most fairy tales, it is that good will always triumph over evil. This is also prevalent in the Brothers Grimm's dark tale, “The Juniper Tree.” A story full of cannibalism and murder still manages to lead to an iconic happy ending. Symbols are intertwined in every ironic phrase. Connections to tales from Greek mythology to Biblical times hide the true macabre nature of the story of (as it is also called) "My mother killed me, my father ate me." The very first line of the fable, “A long, long time ago, about two thousand years or so,” is itself an allusion dating back to the era of Jesus Christ. The boy's untimely and undeserved death at the hands of another refers to the unjust crucifixion of Jesus. He sacrifices himself for the good of others around him. The reincarnation of the son as a bird and as a feeling of happiness for those who loved him represent the Holy Spirit, also commonly symbolized as a bird (dove). his subsequent resurrection surrounded by “fog, flames and fire rising from the place” where his stepmother (a symbol of sin) was killed, adds further evidence that the boy is a Christ figure. Other biblical allusions throughout the story , the "evil thought [possesses]" the stepmother, the "evil spirit [entered] her" practically adds horns and a forked tail to the traditionally evil stepmother, showing her as Satan himself (Grimm). only the allusions add a point of reference for those who read the story (mostly Christians at the time), but the ancient battle of Original Sin, the battle of the angels driven by naivety and the infernal driven by desire ingeniously written in a children's fairy tale reiterates that no matter the circumstance...... middle of paper...... in every fairy tale, add layers of magic dust about the brutal murder and eating of the son. Yet they manage to get away with pushing this theme into morbid tales. The Brothers Grimm use the appeal of the fairy tale to send the message to the audience that good will always triumph over evil. Works Cited1. Grimm, Jacob, Wilhelm Grimm and Maria Tatar. The Brothers Grimm Annotated. New York: W. W. Norton, 2004. Print.2. Ashliman, D. L. "The Brothers Grimm Home Page." Home page of the Brothers Grimm. DL Ashliman, 2003. Web. 24 March 2014.3. Lenssen, Philip. "Fairy Tales of the Brothers Grimm." Fairy tales. Authorama and Web. 24 March 2014.4. Dick, Dr. "Mendelssohn's World of Doctor Dick": Being German in the Early 1800s. Np, 2009. Web. March 24, 2014.5. Acocella, Giovanna. "Once upon a time." The New Yorker. Condé Nast, July 23, 2012. Web. March 24, 2014.6. 19 fairy tales page