The Juniper Tree

Themes in "The Juniper Tree":

The Brothers Grimm published the German fairy tale "The Juniper Tree" in Low German in their collection Grimm's Fairy Tales in 1812. The Brothers Grimm published this story in their popular collection Children's and Household Tales. The ghoulish story "The Juniper Tree" features themes of cannibalism and homicide. In addition to accidents, destruction, and rehabilitation, this tale also explores the evil emotions that afflict human minds, such as greed, hypocrisy, and envy. It is one of the Brothers Grimm's darker and more sophisticated fairy tales and has themes of child abuse, murder, cannibalism, and biblical symbolism.

The biblical allusion of reincarnatiom is reinstated through the main character of the story. The chief protagonist of the story, an innocent little boy is subjected to  cruel treatment and is constantly abused by his step mother. The stepmother is driven by the emotions of jealousy and greediness and she commits the sin of ruthlessly killing an innocent child. The little boy reincarnates as a beatiful little bird. The bird sings the pathetic death of the boy at the hands of cruel stepmother. However, the bird possessed by the soul of the boy kills the stepmother. Finally, he rejuvenates to his human form and gets united with the rest of his family members.