Questions About The Snow Queen

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The flowers tell stories that ideally ought to relate somehow to the main narrative. But as far as I can tell, there is no actual connection. What do you think?

Jane The flowers definitely seem out of place since they don't guide Gerda on her quest or provide her with any useful information, but I think they're sup…moreThe flowers definitely seem out of place since they don't guide Gerda on her quest or provide her with any useful information, but I think they're supposed to represent the voices that distract us from our goals. The whole fairytale is an allegory for journeys of life. The story says that "each flower, as it stood in the sunshine, dreamed only of its own little fairy tale of history," which I interpret to represent those who repeat the same stories over and over without moving forward. Based on the stories they tell, I'd say that the tiger-lily represents mourning, the convolvulus represents yearning, the snow-drop represents shattered illusions, the hyacinth represents the fear of death, the buttercup represents the memory of youth, and the narcissus represents self-interest. I think Andersen includes them mostly as a setpiece rather than something directly related to the narrative, but I think it's a nice touch to the story nevertheless!(less)

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Did you have this book in Spanish?

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