Empowerment. Engagement. Authenticity.
The Other Side of the Story
Women are Trouble
The Queen of this land was known for her cruel and harsh ways. Some said she was wise in the ways of black magic and so could render herself invisible. All the better to spy on people, no doubt. She was a woman, after all, and women always used their wiles to get what they wanted. That’s why me and the men lived by ourselves. We kept things how we wanted, we washed when we wanted and we cleaned house when we wanted. Hidden deep in the forest as we were, hardly no one knew we existed and that suited us just fine. We worked hard all day and no one bothered us. But then we came home from the mine one day and found Snow White in our beds – she threw us out of our own beds! – and everything changed.
The other six fools were all besotted with her beauty and fell under her spell immediately. Disgustin’! She wouldn’t serve dinner until they washed and like the sheep they are, they did as she demanded. She’d be dressing them in ribbons and perfume before they knew it. Bah! If the idiots hadn’t thrown me into the tub, I would have sat at the table and ate regardless of what the “Princess” wanted. See if she could stop me! Alright, I admit, she cooked real good. And the house didn’t look half bad neither, with all the dishes put away and the floor swept. But what right did she have to come into our home without our permission? And no doubt her actions would bring the Queen’s wrath down upon us. Women!
And after all we did for her, after we spent the night sleeping on the floor and in the cupboards just so that she could have our beds, did she listen to us? I told her myself, I told her – “Don’t be letting no one or nothin’ in the house!” But she just had to take pity on the poor old peddler trying to sell her that juicy apple. She knows we like gooseberry pies! Women! They have no common sense at all! She’s lucky that Prince came along, ‘cause we certainly didn’t know how to help her. It’s good to know she’s livin’ happily ever after now. We can go back to our regular lives now. And that no good Queen is dead, good riddance! We all know that Snow White is the fairest in the land, even if she is a woman.
(c) Kristy Kassie, 2006
Perspective
No one tells the same story in the same way. The piece above tells
the story of Snow White, a well-known fairy tale, from the perspective
of the bad-tempered dwarf Grumpy. The perspective from which a story is
told can influence readers' attitudes and impressions.
