Contemporary-Hansel and Gretel-Survival

I would have to say that the theme of both the Grimm's and Gaiman's version of Hansel and Gretel or "Hansel and Grethel"would be survival. Survival is a constant thing for everyone in today's society, whether you are consciously thinking about it or not. Everything you do, every single second of every day will either hurt or aid in your survival. Your choices really do affect your entire life.
       In both versions of Hansel and Gretel, the Stepmother/Mother wanted the children gone as a means of survival, so she and the father would have less mouths to feed and could hopefully survive. In turn, the children were on their own trying to figure out how to survive with being lost in the woods, and then how to survive and beat the witch. The witch too was also trying to survive because she needed food (why she didn't just eat her house and make a house out of something else, that I'm unsure..maybe I'm thinking too much into this, it is just a tale after all..)
       At any rate, there are so many contemporary connections I could make to this theme of survival for Hansel and Gretel. As a result, I ended up choosing The Maze Runner by James Dashner as my contemporary connection. The Maze Runner is both a book and a movie. There are four books in total, one is the prequel and then we have the trilogy. If you haven't read the series, I highly suggest that you do, as well as watch the movie (soon to be movies..)
     

This picture includes Dylan O'Brien who plays Thomas in The Maze Runner, James Dashner who is the author of The Maze Runner series, and Wes Ball who is the current director of The Maze Runner Movies.

        Moving right along, just as Hansel and Gretel were put to the test of survival by being put out on their own in the woods, so were these kids that were put out to survive with nothing but what they could make and find, as well as beat the maze and most importantly, survive against the grievers. The people who put Thomas and the other kids into the world of the maze connect with Hansel and Gretel's parents, the maze connects with the woods, and the grievers connect with the witch. At least, that is how I see it. My reasoning is Hansel and Gretel, and Thomas and the kids are all out on their own trying to survive in a place that is very large and confusing,  such as the woods and the maze, and the witch and the grievers connect because they are both the things that are trying to kill the kids in both stories. In the end of both stories, most of the characters survive. Who survives and who dies? Well, you are all aware of who dies in both versions of Hansel and Gretel, but in order to find out who survives and dies in The Maze Runner series, read the books. (Please don't just look it up, that isn't cool and takes away part of the magic of reading if you ask me.) In the end, we all are trying to survive just like the characters in these stories.