Reading Diary B: Hans Christian Anderson

There was only one story in the second half of the Hans Christian Anderson unit. That story was The Little Mermaid, it was just broken up into 6 parts. I have to admit, I had never read this version before. I have watched the Disney version about a million times but I did know enough, that I figured this version would be much different. The Disney versions of fairy tales always have happier themes and are definitely less gruesome than the original fairy tales.

One of the first things that I noticed about this story was all the little details that take over the entire first part of the story. I think that it gives a good description of the setting but I feel like most of it was unnecessary. I don't think that the first part adds that much to the story as a whole.

In the Disney version, the little mermaid had a very happy ending. She ended up being able to speak and being able to live happily ever after with her prince. He fell in love with her and she was very happy. In this version, the little mermaid had to trade her tongue and her voice in order to become human. She also had to be in constant pain.

The little mermaid had to trade so much for just the slight chance that she may be able to be with the prince. In the end, the prince did not fall in love with the little mermaid and so she was not able to live as a human. It was quite a sad ending.

Mermaid. Source: Wikimedia Commons