back then, we all lived on the edge of the great forest", where the lack of a concrete time frame accounts for any changed contextual and societal values, and the inclusive language ("we") transports the reader involving them in the story. Harshbarger comments on this narrative device in his article, stating, "context specifications as "Once upon a time" signal a shift in reference from the speaker's actual world to another mental or symbolic representation of a world." This allows the values of today's modern world to be disregarded as the reader is drawn into the story, allowing them to ignore any logic or morals that would not make sense in their context, justifying strange events and characters.Ī significant change from the original tale is that Gretel was born into the family as the eldest child, signifying a changed context, as no-one would expect to find stray children in the wood, and therefore the audience understands this version of the tale more. The setting of the story is established in the first line, where Gaiman writes, "This all happened a long time ago.
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