In the Brothers Grimm version of “Hansel and Gretel,” the parent-child relationship is weak indeed. Let's look at this in more detail.

In this version of the tale, Hansel and Gretel live with their father and stepmother. They are a very poor family and have almost run out of things to eat. The stepmother decides that they should take the children into the woods and leave them there to make the food last longer for the two adults. She clearly does not love the children, for they are not her own offspring. The father supposedly loves the children, yet he is a weak man, and he chooses his wife over his little son and daughter. Of course, we would not have had much of a tale if the father would have kicked his wife right out of the house for even suggesting abandoning his children to such a horrible fate. But he does not. He is “convinced” by his wife’s arguments and goes along with her plan.

The children find their way home the first time, but the stepmother once again tells her husband that they must get rid of the children or starve. Of course, they would probably starve anyway. It would just take a bit longer. She is willing to sacrifice the children for a few more days or a couple weeks. Again, the father goes along with this. Because he has done so the first time, it is harder to resist the second time. He is a weak man who goes along with evil because he is too cowardly to stand up against it.

In the end, the children are restored to their father, who is overjoyed to see them. His conscience has certainly been tormenting him. Now that the stepmother has died, we hope that perhaps the parent-child relationship can heal and become strong.