Storytelling Week Day Two: Symbolism

Snow-White and the Seven Dwarves is one of the most famous pieces of folklore in human history. It’s been sanitised, animated, and turned into poems. It’s even been turned into a few horror movies. What are the reasons for its longevity? Let’s find out.

The Grimms’ fairy tale describes the corrosive effects of jealousy, pitting dark against light and good against evil. The original tale tells us that innocence always wins in the end and that jealousy is a destructive force. In that version, the dwarves rescue Snow-White, so the story celebrates friendship as a healing force.

Snow-White has been altered for the screen more than 15 times since then. Each version has brought new meaning to a conversation we’ve been having since its publication two centuries ago.

Disney changed the story when they introduced the prince before Snow White bit the poison apple. In this version, you needed a male romantic interest to rescue you. This is, after all, what people of the Fifties believed about their own lives.

In the Eighties and Nineties, feminists spoke out against that toxic view, so Cosmopolitan published a feature that criticised fairy tales for teaching women to depend on men. In the Nineties version of Snow White, the princess is depicted as vain and selfish. It’s no surprise that film-makers produced it when the world was dismantling the value of beauty.

In 2012, film-makers changed the tale again. This time the dwarves were thieves who taught Snow White to become an empowered warrior woman. In 2007, film-makers modernised the story, depicting Snow-White in high school and the mirror as a “hot or not” list. The movie drew attention to issues that hadn’t existed when the story was first written.

We’ve been juggling Snow White’s themes and lessons for centuries because our opinions and lives have changed. The only reason we can adjust those themes so well is that the original fairy tale has powerful and compelling symbolism.

The poison apple symbolises the temptation of the Garden of Eden and even sexual desire.
The dwarves symbolise different parts of human nature.
The Queen is, of course, a symbol of narcissism.
Snow White represents purity, and the mirror represents societal expectations of beauty.

When you change the story, you change the symbols. When you change the symbols, you make a philosophical statement. Every time we lost interest in the story's lessons, we wrote new ones. Symbols can turn a shallow story into a profound message, so never forget them. They have incredible power and don’t need forced exposition to succeed.

Today’s Exercise:

Write the symbols in Snow-White and Rose-Red into a poem or story. This is quite a difficult exercise, but you can do it.