In a reworking of the classic tale of Hansel and Gretel by the Grimm brothers, Neil Gaiman extends and reshapes the issues in the plot with a more modern day touch. In the book, we have two children that are cast off into the woods because their evil step mother believes that her and her husband will be unable to provide for four people. The father, who is wood cutter by trade, is devastated by the idea of losing his kids, knowing that he would be responsible for their death, but he inevitably abides by his wife's command and takes Hansel and Gretel into the woods to the point where they cannot find their way back. After a failed attempt to abandon his children for the sake of the family, the woodcutter finally manages on a second attempt, to bring the children far enough into the woods to the point of no return. The children encounter the witch who wishes to fatten Hansel up to make his meat succulent for consumption due to her inability to get meat elsewhere.
The image below is the actual distribution of wealth in America. You'll notice that the poor and middle classes have almost no difference; that the middle class is becoming a nonexistent class and that in America, you are either poor, rich, or wealthy. The image is taken from a video on youtube discussing what Americans think the distribution of wealth is, what they think it should be, and what it actually is. In the video it is said that top 1% of Americans own approximately 40% of the $54 trillion that the United States brings in annually. This is an outrageous statistic that doesn't beg for socialism, but asks for something other than Capitalism because it is clearly a system that does not help the poor or middle class but helps the rich get more rich and the wealthy even more wealthy.
Thinking of the distribution of wealth in America is an interesting contemporary connection when one reads Hansel and Gretel. However, the witch in the story explains to the children that she is glad that they arrived "because now there will be meat once again". Gaiman shows his audience what can happen during a time of war where there is a shortage of supplies, and what happens to the people that had once lived a somewhat normal life where food was plentiful and children did not have to be consumed for meat. What I mean by this, is that looking at these charts we wonder how far this will go. During the mid 1900s the middle class was extremely comfortable to the point where there only needed to be one income per family. Now, in the twenty-first century the middle class is being reduced to nothing. If 40% of our nation's net worth is in the hands of one percent of our populous, how are things evenly remotely fair? You'll notice that the wealthiest Americans on the Actual Distribution of Wealth are legitimately off the chart and that is because they would have to cut the chart multiple times just to fit it on your computer screen. When reading Hansel and Gretel I see a good family with a hard working father who wishes nothing but the best for his children but can't provide for them because he does not have the opportunity due to the war ravaged place that they live and the inequality that surely affects their family. If the distribution of wealth in America continues on its current track, there will be no middle class; you will either be extremely wealthy or have nothing.
Inequality In America
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QPKKQnijnsM
I highly recommend that you watch the video on youtube. I was introduced to it in my Sociology class a few semesters ago and think that it's eye opening.
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