The Juniper Tree

While the transformation in "The Juniper Tree" is important, it’s hard to comprehend in terms of the purpose it is supposed to serve. I find myself wondering why the boy specifically changed into a bird, as opposed to some other animal, or why the little boy only communicated through song and only with strangers, as opposed to his father or sister. That said, I’m not exactly sure how I feel about the boy being totally human or totally animal. In my opinion, he seems to fall more towards totally human on the scale, because his animal form is only temporary. While he physically loses his human shape, he can still reason and sing.

While the boy was a bird, he had to sing his beautiful song in order to get humans to listen and obtain the necessary materials through bargaining to get his revenge and become human again. As we know, the little bird sang his song twice in exchange for a golden chain from the goldsmith, a pair of red shoes from the shoemaker, and a millstone from the miller. In the end, the bird gives the red shoes to his sister Marlene, the golden chain to his father, and he drops the millstone on the stepmother’s head to kill her. It is interesting that the humans never pay attention to the words in the bird’s song; instead, they simply notice his pleasing voice. The little boy is only able to come back from the dead once he gets his revenge and kills the evil stepmother. Thus, the “spell”, if it can be considered one, is broken and the little boy changes from a bird back to a human.

In comparison with other transformations, it is similar in the fact that a certain spell must be broken in order for the animal to revert back to its previous human form. For instance, in "The Twelve Brothers", the brothers can only be changed back from ravens to humans if their sister is silent for seven years, and only then will the spell be broken. In addition, because this person’s life was taken and therefore he or she temporarily becomes an animal, another life must be exchanged so that the animal can live again as a human. This exchange can be seen in "Brother and Sister", when the brother, who had previously been turned into a fawn by his evil stepmother, became human again after the king issued the stepmother's execution. Likewise, in "The Jupiter Tree", the little boy drops the millstone on the evil stepmother’s head, similar to how she slammed his head against the chest, and as she dies he instantly becomes human again. He then lives happily ever after with his father and sister.